


Crimson Lullaby

by Arithese



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, Gen, Government, Kidnapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sickness, Trauma, injuries, scientists - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2019-07-24 19:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16181687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: The turtles are all captured by the government, and they go through horrible experiments, seperated from each other without a way out.





	1. Chapter 1

Lucky wasn't the suitable word to use, but it kinda fit, we were lucky. Of course this whole situation we were in wasn't lucky at all, this wasn't anything to cheer about, or to laugh about. Something bad happened, terribly bad. And the only luck I could find in this whole situation was the fact that it was just a day after the start of our summer break.

We could've never treated him back in New York, they would've found him some way or another. Don't ask me how they'd do it, but they always seemed to find creatures like that, someone would tell the police, or they'd suspect something. They would find him. He has only spoken one sentence, one little sentence that had actually decided for me, obligated me to care for him.

My dad took us, after a lot of convincing, to the old farmhouse, where we used to stay every summer. It wasn't far away from the city, so it wasn't a long drive, but it felt like it. We couldn't get there soon enough to help him, or whatever he was. I wasn't even sure myself, I just knew that we had to help him, because he begged me to. Though this wasn't exactly what he asked me to.

"Save my sons, please"

That was the sentence he has manage to whisper, tears slipping from his eyes. The sentence filled with so much hurt, not the hurt from his endless collection of wounds but hurt from emotional pain. Whoever his sons were, he loved them dearly, and because I heard his request, I felt like I needed to fulfil it.

The only problem was, that I had no idea who his sons were. I tried the internet, but there were no report of any giant rats around the city, not even in the world. There were no reports about mutant rats, which I assumed he was, or even missing kids, there was nothing I could use to fulfil this request, so we brought him here to let him heal.

Casey and dad were with me, dad was a vet. I know it sounded rather cruel but that was probably the thing that saved the rat in the end. Though I knew, just from his vocabulary, that he was anything but an animal. We tried to enjoy the nature around her as much as we could, and we did. I always enjoyed this place, nobody being around for miles.

Though there was always this one nagging thought, if the rat would ever wake up.

2 whole months passed since we brought him to our farmhouse, one month till we had to go back, till school would start again. Two whole months, almost 8 full weeks had passed, until he finally opened his eyes.

TMNT

"Hey, you awake?" I gently ask, dimming the light as he squeezes his eyes shut again, wincing from the bright light. "Just take it easy, you've been out for a long time" I add before he can try anything, to injure himself again.

"What has happened to me? And who are you?" He asks, his voice surprisingly calm as he scans me briefly, his eyes slightly disorientated.

"My name is April, April O'Neil. We found you a while ago.. you were badly injured so we took you to our farmhouse and looked after you." I explained to him, deliberately avoiding the precise time period, fearing he might freak out when hearing how long he'd been out.

"Thank you for your hospitality Miss O'Neil" He says with a soothing voice, nodding his head slightly. Slowly his eyes widen slightly, his whole form freezing. And then he was suddenly trying to get up, topping when a hiss of pain leaves his mouth. Immediately I shoot forwards, placing my hands on his shoulders to push him down again.

"You need to calm down Mister! You're still injured" I cry out, trying to hold him down. He still tries to fight me, even despite the pain that is obviously coursing through his body, his eyes are wide with fear, darting around the room.

"My sons! Where are my sons?!" He almost yells, trying desperately to get up, to find his sons. I feel a pang of sadness, seeing him struggle so hard. Even in his weakened and injured state he is still determined to get to his sons, if they were still alive.

"I don't know, but you must calm down. Injuring yourself won't help you, or your sons!" I shout, finally catching his full attention. His eyes catch mine, brown eyes staring into my blue ones. And then he just gives up, allowing me to pin him to the bed. I want to smile at my little victory, but the tears stinging in his eyes make me re-think.

"How long have I been out Miss O'Neil?" He asks suddenly, looking at me with a stern expression, like the tears never happened, like his desperate attempts to get out of bed didn't happen, like he knows something more than I thought he did. I sit back in the chair again, rubbing my upper legs a bit.

"2 months" I eventually whisper, casting my head downwards.

"My sons, did you find my sons Miss O'Neil?" He asks, the hurt barely audible in his voice. He's trying to cover it up, trying to act like he isn't devastated by the news of having been out for so long, not being devastated by not having his sons at his side. And I can't give him an answer that'd satisfy him, but I had no other answer.

"I'm sorry sir, we didn't"

TMNT

As the day progressed we both found out things. He soon found out he hadn't introduced himself fully yet. He was Japanese, and he used to be human before he got 'mutated'. His human name was Hamato Yoshi but ever since he had mutated, he rarely introduced himself as Hamato Yoshi, not like he introduced himself often. His sons often called him Master Splinter, and while telling about his sons, I could see the pain in his eyes.

He was still weak, 2 months in a coma affected his body badly. His arm still wasn't fully healed yet and it still caused him pain whenever he moved it, it was a bad break after all. And he was in pain when he was walking, still feeling the effects of having his legs and hip dislocated. But he was awake, and for now that was the most important thing.

The second was of course healing him so we could find his sons, if they were still alive.

He was a ninja, a secret he quickly trusted me with. For some reason he seemed to like me, and we ended up talking a lot that day. Dad cooked for the four of us, but he hadn't been up to eating much. I told him about how we found him two months ago, and how we took off to the farmhouse, so he could heal and wake from his coma.

But honestly, he only figured the most important thing out in the evening, and at the same time, so did I.

It was Casey's mistake, even though it wasn't really a mistake. Dad just left a few minutes ago to get something from the store before it closed, so we were with the three of us. I was just talking to him, and Casey was minding his own business. I knew we couldn't blame him for anything, but it happened. And it was because of him that it happened.

But how could I blame Casey for watching the news? How could I possibly blame him for putting the volume up just loud enough for Splinter's mutated ears to hear the news. Honestly, it wasn't until the voice of a teenage boy entered my hearing that I knew what was going on. So full of hurt… thick from all the tears.

"My son"

That was the only sentence Splinter uttered as he limped towards the living room, forgetting his own pain. I was barely was able to see the turtle on the screen, barely 2 seconds but it was enough for me to see the red eyes, the tears streaming down his face and chains around his ankles and wrists, and then the program ended.

And the worst part wasn't Splinter breaking down in tears, no, it was the fact that this turtle, these 4 turtles, have been on television for two whole months right now.


	2. Chapter 2

We lost. The only possible way to explain everything that was going on. We lost. There was no other possible explanation, no way to sugarcoat the things that happened, things that changed our lives forever. We already knew directly that this would change everything, everything that we knew, and everyone that we knew.

We lost.

My hands were shaking from the strain of keeping my katana's raised, a thin line of blood streaming down my arm, slowly but steadily streaming down the side of my plastron. It tickled slightly but I paid no attention to it, my only focus on the humans in front of me, and my bros that were now behind me, clearly exhausted and tired from the fight.

We were defeated, Shredder's henchman were just too powerful, especially once the Shredder himself had joined the battle field. They captured us, tied us up with thick ropes none of us could get out of. I was given one free hand, one free hand to hold a stupid phone to call my own dad, to save the lives of my brothers.

I thought he'd be able to handle it.

I was so wrong, but what other choice did I have? They were threatening to push Mikey into the furnace if I wouldn't have called him. No, scratch that. They weren't going to push him in, they were slowly going to lower him, enjoying his screams as he slowly burned. I couldn't let that happen to any of my bros, that's why I called him.

It was barely 5 minutes before he arrived, yelling at the Shredder, demanding to release us and fight him like a man. It all happened so quickly, dad was skilled, but so was the Shredder, they were even, dad maybe a bit better. But with Tiger Claw, Rahzar, Fish Face and countless other footbots on Shredder's side, there was no way they were going to win.

I have no idea when the ropes were cut by a shuriken, but at that time it didn't matter. I immediately reached for my swords, charging in and helping my dad, defending my brothers. The footbots were no match for us, they had never been, but TC proved to be harder. Together with Raph we were constantly fighting him, Mikey and Donnie holding off Fish face and Rahzar.

We were exhausted, too tired to continue fighting for too long.

And that's when the scream came. Crimson blood flying all around, and I was just in time to see Splinter, my dad, our father, falling down the building and taking Shredder with him. There was a dull thud before TC's paw connected with my plastron, knocking me backwards. Soon sirens entered our ears, helicopters dawning onto the rooftop, FBI falling onto the rooftop.

We barely managed to get out, barely managed to get off the rooftop to escape getting caught. But we weren't in time to get underground. Several guns pointed at us, my swords useless to protect my brothers from the bullets that would certainly come once we moved.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!" One of them screamed loudly, readying the gun a bit more to emphasize the point. I grit my teeth, feeling the handle of my katana in between my shaking hands, feeling exhausted all over, I just wanted to get my brothers to safety. I just wanted to go home, I just wanted dad.

"We mean no harm, just let us go. Please!" I shouted back, still not lowering my weapon.

"We will fire if you don't put down your weapons!" The man immediately retorted, clicking the revolver as a last warning.

"Leo.." Donnie whispered, fear all too present in his voice. My little brother. I glanced backwards, my heart dropping slightly as I saw my three younger brothers. Raph was almost standing next to me, his sais drawn to protect me, Mikey and Don. The latter was standing a little behind us and next to Mikey. Both had their weapons drawn, an angry yet terrified expression on their face.

"I'm sorry guys.." I doubtfully whispered, turning my face towards the humans in front of us again. Most of them were FBI, weapons focused on our heads but there were normal citizens. They were all afraid, I could see the fear in their eyes. Some were even filming us. And it would on the internet without a doubt, giant talking turtles with weapons, dangerous mutants loose in New York, and so on.

My swords clattered onto the ground, my hands high in the air as a sign of defeat.

There was a short silence, interrupted by the clattering of more weapons. Don's bo, Mikey's nun chucks and Raph's sais. Defeated, we lost, disarmed. The FBI slowly moved around us, keeping the guns focused on us and showing no emotion other than fear. I nearly jumped out of my shell when I felt two strong hands on my arms, forcing them behind my shell and immediately cuffing them a little too tightly.

I winced, trying to stifle a sound of protest as I was shoved to the ground. My face painfully digging into the hard concrete. And much to my horror I could see my brothers receiving the same treatment, forced to the ground and having their limbs cuffed together. Suddenly I was hauled up again, my feet once again connected with the ground.

"Walk, and make no sudden moves!" One of them screamed, roughly pushing me forwards.

I hung my head in shame, hearing the moving chains behind me. I had no room to struggle, all around me were guns pointed at me, my wrists tied to each other behind my shell, and my ankles both bearing cuffs with a short chain in between. There was a small crowd of humans on either side of us, mothers holding children close, some looking at us with disgust, others with fear.

I just kept my head down, knowing there wasn't anything I could do to keep my brothers safe.

They didn't care, it looked like they absolutely didn't care. They just threw us, pushing us harshly into the back of the van and closing the door as quickly as they could. Raph immediately rushed towards the back, yelling and slamming his body against the door to let us go, to let us go free. Shouting about the times we had protected them, the moments we had risked our lives to save theirs.

And this is how we were repaid.

I slowly crawled over to Donnie, wincing as the chains tugged at my limbs. Right now I just wanted to be close to one of them, who knows how long I will be able to? Who knows how long we'll be able to see each other? I laid my head on his shoulder, Donnie placing his head on top of my scalp. I wanted to hug him, but we both had our hands behind our back.

Raph was now sitting with his shell against the back of the door, his knees drawn to his chest and his head resting on his knees. Leo was, just like me, slowly crawling up to Raph, seeking and giving comfort to each other. I was the only one who really wanted the physical comfort, the others had no problems giving it, but they didn't rely on it as much as I did.

So seeing them snuggled close to each other like this only proved the position we were in right now.

I winced again as the car started to move, helplessly watching as buildings passed by the little window there was in the back of the car, too high for us to reach, and protected by steel bars. Such a beautiful night… so how could this have happened? How did we lose so badly? How did we manage to lose dad, and our freedom in less than an hour?

"What is going to happen now Leo?" I whisper fearfully, snuggling a little closer to Donnie.

"We'll stick together Mikey, we'll get through this. I promise" Leo whispered back, looking towards me. Doubt was in his eyes, and for once I didn't blame him for not knowing something. I didn't blame him, or reminded him of the fact that he was the leader, our leader. For once I knew how dire the situation was.

"Just promise we won't be separated, 'kay?" This surprised me actually, hearing my big brother say this, with so much hurt in his voice. I knew that we were close, but I never though Don would be saying something like that, not out loud. Instead of giving him a verbal response I snuggled even closer to him, happy when I felt him relax slightly.

"Never" Leo assured, but his voice held no promise. Because such a promise couldn't be made without breaking it.

The whole way we were silent, at some point Leo and Raph has come over to us, all huddling close to each other. No words were exchanged, but from the looks on their faces I knew they understood the situation, we were in the hands of humans. There was nothing we could do that wouldn't kill us, we were at their mercy.

The only thing we could do was enjoy each other's company, as long as we could.

Eventually after some time the truck stopped moving, there were voices outside, voices I didn't hear but all four of us were immediately alert, standing straight up. The door never opened, instead a small door opened and something was thrown inside the truck. No warning came before the small device opened and gas slowly started to fill the room.

I could hear Leo and Raph shout, one in anger and one in desperation but there was nothing we could do. Donnie was coughing next to me, leaning heavily against the side of the truck. My head was starting to spin, my body swaying slightly before my knees gave out beneath me. My shell hit the ground hard and I groaned slightly, shaking my head to clear it.

But the smoke was powerful, and soon I found myself unable to move anything. My cheek was against the cold floor, my hands still behind my back and looking at my older brother. Raph had fallen on his shell, his arms painfully trapped under his shell. I couldn't see Leo and Donnie, and I had no way of seeing them, I could only move my eyes.

I squinted my eyes slightly as the door was opened, bright light filling the truck, artificial light. Several men stepped into the car, again carrying guns with them. They all wore masks, to avoid getting affected by the smoke as well.

"The creatures are stabilized." One of them said, only after that comment they dared to approach us. I could feel a strong hand hauling me up, tears stinging in my eyes.

"L-leave 'im …lone" Raph growled weakly, his limbs twitching slightly. One of the guards who was starting to haul up Raph immediately took a step backwards, dropping Raph again and earning a glare from said turtle. The man reached for his belt and pulled out a stick, I wanted to scream as blue light flickered out of the end of the stick.

The end of the stick connected with Raph's neck and suddenly he was screaming and twitching in pain.

"R-Ra…" Leo stuttered, the desperation all too present in his voice. Seconds later his scream echoed through the truck as well.

"Boss, the gas didn't work, they are still resisting" One of them spoke in his earpiece. I could vaguely register the boss saying something, but I had no idea what he was saying. The man nodded firmly. "Shock them." He stated and took out his stick again. The last thing I saw was the blue light nearing me, the last thing I felt was pain.. pain overtaking my whole body. I couldn't hear myself screaming but I knew I was.

The last thing I heard was the combined screams of pain of my brothers before blackness engulfed me.

"Should we chain them to the wall or something? What if the gas really doesn't work?" A voice entered my eardrums, still I couldn't move or open my eyes. My body was exhausted. Chains digging into my wrist and ankles. My body was aching all over from the shock stick they had used twice. They hurt, and I failed to protect my little brothers from that pain.

I should've protected them as the leader, instead I failed them.

"They won't be able to do anything, and if they do we'll just shock them again." Another voice replied, a short electrifying sound echoing through the room, the shock stick.

"What do you think they are anyways?" The first one spoke again, almost sounding a bit scared.

"Giant turtles carrying ninja weapons." The other snorted in disgust. "Wanna bet how many innocents they've killed?"

"Probably a shitload of people, they were most likely also the ones that caused all those robberies" The first one said. "How did they manage to capture them in the first place?" This caused my attention, and I forced myself to listen closely. Though that proved to be harder than it should be, as my head was starting to spin again.

"The police had been called by someone, but when the police arrived they saw these mutants, so they called the FBI. They managed to capture two of the seven mutants, but the giant tiger and these four escaped. They're still looking for the tiger, but they managed to track these before they managed to get to their hideout." The other replied.

"But who called the police?"

"Now that's the weird part, if this whole freak show wasn't weird already. The man first claimed that there was a mutant rat terrorizing him, and that he had killed innocent people, along with his four turtle sons. But he never said his name" The last one explained. "He claimed to be the Shredder"

And the last thought that rang through my head, before darkness claimed me again, was the fact that the Shredder had won…

Shredder had won,

And we lost.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing I noticed when I slowly awoke were the tight chains around my wrist, restraining my movement, and the second thing I noticed was the head on my shoulder. I groaned slightly, opening my eyes to look around. I blinked a couple of times, trying to clear my view but when I did I wish I hadn't. I was immediately confronted with the whole situation.

I was surprised actually to see that Leo had fallen asleep on my shoulder, but I pushed it back, looking around the room with fear. The room wasn't really that big, but it gave us enough room to move in. It was a bit like our room, but the ceiling was somewhat higher. The door was protected with a thick, clear layer of what seemed to be glass, a door put in the middle.

I looked back at my older brother, a small smile spreading on my face as I saw how peacefully he was sleeping. I didn't want to wake him just yet. I took Leo's head from my shoulder and placed it on top of Raph's plastron, who was sitting against the wall with Mikey's head on his leg. No need in waking them up now.

I looked around the room again, quickly spotting the multiple security cameras hanging in the room, and I quickly found myself sending a glare to one of the camera's. I knew full well that it wouldn't solve anything, in fact it would only further anger them, but it just happened, and I didn't regret it at all, it actually felt good.

I slowly stood up, popping my knees as I did so. Sleeping on the ground wasn't the best option for your joints. I groaned softly, continuing to pop my sore body until was fully standing and stretched.

The others were still peacefully sleeping, for now. I knew what was coming right now. How cruel it sounds, dad always told us stories about scientists, I never held it against him because we all know that he told us to protect us. It was the reason we were too afraid to go topside when we couldn't protect ourselves, too afraid until we could protect ourselves properly.

But we all knew what scientists would do.

I deliberately ignored the chains around my wrists as I neared the glass, horrified by the sight. There was a short chain in between them but not very long, so I couldn't stretch one arm without stretching the other one as well. I knew it was futile to try and find a weak spot in the glass because the obviously wouldn't have put in glass without making it unbreakable

I shivered slightly as my finger trailed along the glass, touching the very thing that was now holding me captive. The reason why we couldn't escape. My face fell, who was going to rescue us? We didn't even know if Dad was still alive, or if he got injured from the fall. We've only met a few humans so far, and only one of them could be considered our ally, Murakami-san.

While Murakami was loyal and didn't think of us as mutants, he would never be able to rescue us because of his eyesight. We do have two other friends, Leatherhead and Slash, but Slash is a difficult story and we haven't seen both of them in months. We have no idea where they are, and they probably don't even know where we are.

Our situation was hopeless…

Just as the last thought rang through my head the first door opened, startling me slightly. Two humans walked into the room, and from the sounds I quickly discovered that the glass didn't block the noises. The two humans walked towards the glass wall, stopping a meter away. I glared at them, chewing my gum anxiously.

"He's even more impressive when he's standing like that, look how tall he is!" One of them exclaimed, only causing me strengthen my glare.

"I'm standing right here" I grit out through my closed teeth. They ignored me. Instead one of them pulled out a remote of some sort. One of the men pressed a button, and within seconds a loud buzzing noise filled the room, causing me to flinch harshly. I slapped my hands on top of my eardrums, squeezing my eyes to block out the noise.

The sound only lasted a few seconds, and when I looked back at my brothers I could see them all waking up.

"..Donnie?" Leo softly whispered, rubbing his head in confusion. I shot a glare to the humans behind the glass wall and rushed over to my older brother. Leo was still out of it, just waking up from his slumber. And on top of that having been electrocuted, twice. From the corner of my eyes I could see Mikey carefully holding Raph, the latter also out of it due to being shocked twice.

I slightly tightened my grip on my older brother, not really sure what to say or do at the moment. Raph however did.

"You Bastards!" He roared, his voice surging through the room, closely followed by his body. I winced harshly as his fist connected with the glass, then another one. The humans behind the glass cautiously took a step back, but once they realised the glass didn't even have a scratch they dared to approach Raph, still keeping distance however.

"Don't even bother, it is protected by a Scotch shield." One of them said, but his eyes still cautiously followed every movement. I reluctantly released my grip on Leo as I noticed he was starting to stand up, he was still slightly out of it but he seemed to be fully aware of the situation.

"Raph stop it!"

My younger brother said, catching Raph's fist before he could hit the wall again. The calmness surging through Mikey's voice surprised me, but everything about him seemed calm. Leo's shoulders were tensed, Raph.. I didn't even need to explain this one. His knuckles were already turning a vague shade of red from all the hitting, and I was visibly tensed by the whole situation.

But Mikey just seemed so calm, and it surprised me. Raph growled lowly in his throat as Mikey slowly pulled him away from the glass but still he kept eying at the two humans behind the glass.

"Now we have that out of the way, they want to run some individual tests on you." One of the humans spoke. "Here is what you will do, we step out of the room and open this door from the outside" He continued, pointing at the door that was separating us from the humans behind the glass.

"One of you will come into this section, and we will lock the door again. Once that happens, we will come back in and you will willingly let us handcuff you. Otherwise we will sedate the three remaining species"

"Brothers, we're brothers" Leo hissed at the last comment, taking a step forwards.

"Fine" The first one said softly, narrowing his eyes slightly and tilting his head as if he was observing Leo. The contact lasted for a few seconds before green eyes disconnected from Leo's sea blue eyes. I looked over at Leo, cautiously taking a step back. How much I hated it, I knew it was pointless to argue with him. He had already decided who would go with them.

The leader of course, the oldest brother.

TMNT

I still couldn't accept what was happening, it felt like a dream to me. Those moments that looked so real, but eventually turned out to be a dream. The thing you believed to be real turning into sleeping in your own room. That's how I felt like now, my mind just didn't want to accept that this was happening, but deep down I knew it was.

The sound of rattling chains haunted me as I walked along. It wasn't voluntarily, far from it. I felt like an animal, the iron collar that was tightly wrapped around my neck. A long iron stick was connected to it. They were cautious, making sure I wasn't near them at all. They pushed the stick, so I wouldn't be able to turn against them.

My wrists were shackled together, and my ankles were only given a tiny amount of space to move. I was slowly led to another room, it had only been like 5 minutes, but it already felt like hours. 5 minutes of being separated from my family, and I already missed. I never had a problem with that, but I did now.

I didn't want to leave my brothers alone with these scientists.

The room wasn't anything special, the only significant thing was the iron door that was used to get into the room. But after seeing the whole hall I wasn't that surprised. They didn't want us to escape of course. I groaned slightly as the back of my neck was once again being pushed but I still walked along with them.

I couldn't really do anything after all. I could try to escape but it wouldn't do anything. I would either be shocked again, or I would go free and I had to get through I don't know how many security doors and guards to get to Raph, Don and Mikey. And then what? What would we do against all the security we had already seen, and all the security that was yet to be shown?

I had no choice.

So without any resistance I sat down on one of the chairs, watching helplessly as the chain around my wrists got chained to a bar on top of the table, making sure I wouldn't escape. The collar around my neck was cautiously yet gently removed and my hands instinctively flew to my sore neck, only to be stopped by the chains.

I bit back a growl of annoyance and lowered my hands again, ignoring my sore neck.

"I want to ask you a few questions" The man sitting across me said directly, clicking his pen slightly. I looked up, ignoring the men walking out of the room, leaving me alone with a random guy in front of me. The man had short black hair and dark blue eyes, eyes that were closely watching me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, pushing back the slight fear that was causing my heart to beat so loudly.

The man breathed out through his nostrils "Don't try to appear stupid, I've seen how intelligent you four are. As for my previous statement, I want to know a few things." The man clarified, running a hand through his black hair. "First of all, what are you exactly?"

I set my jaw, preventing myself from tearing up. "A mutant turtle" I spoke up, my voice barely above a whisper. The man didn't verbally acknowledge my answer however, he only wrote something down. I couldn't see it from here, and it frustrated me, not knowing what he was writing down after my answer.

"How are you related to the other three, and how old are you?" The man continued, as if the last answer didn't happen. The stare didn't go unnoticed, the curious sparkle in his eyes didn't go unnoticed. And it disgusted me.

"We're brothers, and we're all 16" I answered bluntly, weighting my answers carefully. I didn't want to lie actually, afraid that they might find out that I wasn't cooperating or anything, or realising my answers weren't the same as my brothers, but I would never give information that could further harm my family. I would lie when I felt it was necessary.

"Do you have any other relatives?"

Like now.

The image of Master Splinter flashed in front of my eyes as I shook my head to indicate we had no further family. The lie easily made. They would go looking for him, either him or his body. I couldn't let that happen. So I lied to him, praying that my brothers, if questioned, would lie as well.

He asked me more questions, and I only lied when I felt the need to do so. I was being paranoid, and for once I didn't care. I didn't want my brothers to get hurt. I didn't want to know what they'd do when they found out I was lying.

Or when they found out I wasn't fully cooperating.

I would never give crucial information about the lair, about our human allies, or about Dad. I couldn't do that, and I hoped my brothers would understand why I brought their lives in danger. So the questions continued, until the man eventually leaned back, studying his notes as two others entered the room. One of them was a woman, dark brown and curly hair tied in a high ponytail.

The second one was a man, short light brown hair wearing a lab coat just like the woman. They both walked over to me, standing behind me. I could feel cold and gentle fingers making their way over my head, all the way to the back of my neck. The woman tilted my head forwards, guiding her fragile fingers over the back of my neck.

A shuddering breath made its way into my lungs and I lifted my head, making it impossible for her to see my neck, preventing her from seeing me so vulnerable. The woman sighed slightly, but not out of annoyance.

"Hold his head please" She said in a light voice, and I bit back a growl when I felt a strong hand pushing me forwards, exposing my neck. They didn't need to know about the growls, or the animalistic side.

"..Hey!" I stuttered when I felt a needle sink into my flesh, a cold liquid being released into my neck. I struggled weakly, but the grip of the chains and the man were too tight. It didn't hurt however, the needle just felt uncomfortable but it didn't hurt, and slowly numbness spread among my neck. Something cold was pressed against the back of my neck.

My eyes widened, my limbs once again struggling as the smell of burning flesh entering my nostrils. The humans ignored my struggles, merely holding me down as the object was slowly removed from my neck. I could feel tears burning in my eyes and I couldn't lift a single finger to wipe them away.

"Bring him back to the rest and bring the next one" The man on the other side of the table said, his chin on the top of his hands, curiously staring at me. Yet again the weird twinkle in his eyes. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as the collar was put around my now sore neck. I couldn't really feel it, the shot they had given me probably being so sedative.

But I still felt the discomfort.

And bring the next one.


	4. Chapter 4

We had always been together. As far as I can remember. We slept together when we were toddlers. We were huddled together so we would stay warm in the harsh winters. We played together, we ate together, we fought together over toys and the attention of our father. I can't even remember a time when we weren't together.

From the age of 5 we started our training, and we stayed together, the four of us. We were different, Father had made that clear from the beginning so we wouldn't be disappointed later on. Even if I was the leader, we always had each other to rely on and it had always been that way. Together we overcame all the difficult things we had endured both underground and topside.

You can imagine what it was like to wake up in an empty room.

It was torture.

I could handle being alone, even in tough situations. A few months ago Karai had even captured me for a few hours, before my brothers came to my rescue. I could handle that, I could handle being on my own but there was one big difference between Karai kidnapping me and these humans. That time I knew, I knew that my brothers were safe and out of harm.

This time they weren't.

I cringed slightly as a hand ran along my neck accidently. The sedative had long worn off and I was glad there wasn't any pain. Of course I could still feel it when I touched it, they had burned me. Marked me. I didn't really care that much actually, I only wanted to know how my brothers were doing, they wouldn't tell me.

They just ignored me, strapping me down without any emotion on their faces other than caution. I didn't resist, the threat still clear in my mind. They would switch roles if I struggled, gave them any trouble. I would never want any of my brothers to go through this. So I just laid there, staring at the ceiling while two men were strapping my limbs down with tight straps.

"Is he ready?" A woman asked. I could hear a door shutting close and I craned my neck to look up. It was the same one that had branded me yesterday and I allowed my head to rest against the cold table again. Her brown hair was pulled tight in a ponytail and she wore a nurse uniform. And I was not embarrassed to admit that it scared the shit out of me.

"Where are my brothers?" I spat out, but I still sounded so desperate. Like my life depended on this information, and it sorta did.

"Don't worry, they are all safe. We had to separate them after the red one went wild. We didn't want any of you to get hurt because of him" She told me gently, pulling open a random drawer and looking through, and both that and the answer did not calm me down in any way.

"WHY? Raph would never hurt any of us." I practically yelled, twisting my binds angrily. "We would never hurt anybody okay? Just let us go, we never did anything wrong." The woman kept a straight face, and much to my horror pulled out a needle.

She turned to the two man who were still standing in the room. "I got this boys, you can go" She said with a confident voice. I could feel my heart pumping viciously against my plastron, my hands clenched so hard to keep the fear inside of me. Do not show weakness.

The woman sighed when the men had walked out. "I think I believe you" She said gently, but still she was approaching me with a needle.

"Then let us go" I tried, gritting my teeth as the needle sunk into my flesh.

"I can't do that, we know nothing about you" She said, refusing to meet my eyes as she threw away the needle along with the cotton used to wipe away the blood.

"I could tell you everything, we know more than you think" Okay, so calming myself down was definitely not helping as I found myself trying to twist out of the restraints and frankly I didn't really care at the moment. A weird feeling was sliding all the way down to my toes and it was freaking me out. Not to mention the total helplessness of my situation.

"Please just tell me… what's going to happen to my brothers?" I whispered as a long silence passed. This time the woman did look at me, her brown eyes staring into mine.

Then she sighs again, turning away to grab something else. "You are all assigned to a different experiment so we can determine what you are exactly" She says shortly, walking up to me again with a large machine. "Try to relax, don't fight it" and then the breathing mask was placed on top of my face. My eyes widened as the gas poured into my system.

Immediately I could feel my eyelids dropping. No no no. I couldn't go to sleep, not now, my brothers needed me. I trashed weakly against the restraints but they didn't budge. I needed to stay awake… I needed to know what'd happen to my brothers.

So we can determine what you are exactly. Mutant turtles… I could tell her, him, I could tell them everything they needed to know. They didn't need to do this. They had to let them go, not my brothers. I could handle this, not them. I needed to know…

You are all assigned to a different experiment.

I needed to know what they are going through right now. What experiment? What is happening to them? I just prayed that they wouldn't hurt my brothers but I knew that was too much to ask. I needed to know what would happen to them, I couldn't stand not knowing. I only knew the one I didn't care about, my own 'experiment'.

Vivisection.

Pain.

That was the first thing my drugged brain managed to register when I woke up again. Pain. Not the searing pain when you get stabbed. But the dull throbbing and constant pain long after an injury. I groaned, trying to roll over but immediately realising that I still couldn't move. Damnit.

"Oh good, you're awake" A voice said, causing me to flutter my eyes open. Immediately a light was shining into my eyes, a strong hand holding my face in place. I squeezed my eyes shut again, growling low in my throat.

"Get yer hands off of me" I spat out, glaring as he man ignored me and continued to look into my eyes.

"He seems okay, he's responding well to the medicine" The man above me says, making me realise that we weren't alone in this room.

"Good, give him some water and food, and some rest afterwards. But leave the chains on. We don't want him to harm himself" A female voice answered, immediately followed by a door sliding shut.

"Oh no way in hell yer gonna feed me" I spat as I saw the guy approaching me with a sandwich of some sort. The man cocked an eyebrow in response.

"It's this or not at all. I'm not unchaining you. I don't want to get attacked, thank you very much" he responds, bringing the sandwich closer again. In response I clamped my jaw shut. No fucking way, I wasn't gonna be fed like a little baby.

"I only hurt those who deserve it asshole. What the hell did you even do to me?!" I yelled, twisting the binds again. Maybe not the best move I have made in my life, because it earned me a strong wave of pain, but hell with that.

"They cut open your arms to study your insides" The man said simply, staring at me like I was some kind of circus act, and it made me sick. Because that was all we were to them. A circus act. Some weird thing that needed to be locked up, that apparently needed to be cut open for science. That needed to be secured so we wouldn't hurt anymore.

And to my horror, the guy was right. Long bandages were wrapped along my arms, the limbs tightly secured to the bed I was laying on. My ankles were secured as well, just less extreme. I could still move my legs a little, unlike my arms. They didn't want me to escape, or injure myself by struggling.

"So, are you going to eat it or not?" The man pushed eventually, still fucking staring at me like a new circus act.

"Go to hell" I spat out, craning my neck and attempting to 'bite' him, not like I was ever gonna be close enough. But the reaction was immediate. The sandwich went tumbling down to the floor, along with the guy. Can't say the utterly petrified expression on his face made up for the fact that they cut into me, but it was something. And I would've bitten him if I'd been close enough. Damn those chains.

The man crawled backwards slightly, the fear slowly draining from his face. Still his eyes kept looking at me, locking into my green ones. Slowly he rose back to his feet, hesitating for a little while before exiting the door. A locking sound was on the other side of the room and I closed my eyes, squeezing tears of frustration through my closed lids.

TMNT

Tears were freely streaming down my face, my hands too occupied to wipe them away, my mind too occupied to care. I didn't see my pale knuckles, but I knew they were turning white. My grip was harsh, the edge of the bucket digging into my palms. A firm hand was suddenly planted on my shaking shoulder, slowly rubbing up and down my arms in an attempt to comfort.

"Don't touch me" I gritted out, sweat trickling down my freckled cheeks. Unfamiliar anger filling me. I shrugged the hand off, I tried to, but my body was shaking too badly. My stomach turned again and I vomited in the bucket again. The disgusting smell filled my nostrils, almost causing me to vomit again. Problem was, there was nothing in my stomach anymore.

My vision blurred as another wave of nausea rolled through my body again, and I was left dry heaving for a few minutes, or it could've been a few seconds. I honestly lost track of time.

The next thing I knew was another hand pushed me in a sitting position again. My shell hit the chair behind me harshly and I flinched slightly. The second my shell collided with the chair my upper body and wrists were strapped down again, leaving me immobilized again. Slowly the upper part of the chair was lowered again, leaving me fully lying down again.

"Test subject M345 seems to have an overreaction to the Ipecac syrup ma'am"

My eyelids fluttered slightly, sweat trailing down to my neck. My eyes were burning slightly, along with my throat from the forced vomiting. My stomach was turning violently with every breath I took, and I forced myself to calm down.

"Interesting" The woman hummed in reply. "Bring him back to his room, we'll resume later"

"Ma'am, we aren't even done yet"

The woman standing next to me cocked her eyebrow, looking at the man. "He was dry heaving. And as far as we can tell, his reaction was human. He won't be able to handle any more. And I'm sure Mr. Brown won't appreciate him dying on us." She said casually, the anger all too present in her voice. I'm sure I would've laughed at his face if I weren't in this situation.

But I was, strapped down and forced to vomit so they could figure out how close my immune system and shit was to those of a human.

Still, it was slightly amusing to see the man pale at the mention of his boss, knowing that was the exact man who could get him fired. Guess we were both afraid of the same man. I thought bitterly.

The man eventually nodded hastily and put everything back in the rightful place, going over to the table I was currently lying on. I swallowed down another wave of nausea but remained quiet as the guy rolled me through the hallways. I didn't really pay attention to everything that passed, and it was a short ride as well.

The movies Raph forced me to watch about all those cruel experiments weren't true after all. The person wasn't strapped to a table and wheeled through endless halls to be put in a dark room. Well the first one was quite accurate actually, just not the last one. Everything was quite close by. Which only gave me a slight ounce of hope.

When Raph went wild just a little over 24 hours ago they moved him out of the cell, seconds followed by me. Leo wasn't with us when it happened. Either way, it didn't take long for them to stop moving me, so I knew I had to be close to Don, or at least the room we were kept in. I didn't even know where he was, or Raph, or Leo.

I hope they are okay…


	5. Chapter 5

Even after all this time they still treated us, me, as an animal. They talked freely about me and my brothers when I was around, not even bothering to step outside the room or anything that resembled me not overhearing the conversation. I have no idea how long it has been. Ever since the surgery on the second day of captivity I've been sleeping.

Constantly sleeping and waking, and with me being inside, and them not wanting to tell the exact time, I had no idea what day it was, what time it was whatsoever.

It wasn't really important either, time be damned. I only cared about my brothers. I wanted to see them so badly, not like I was ever going to admit that. But it was true, I wanted fearless to storm inside my room, along with Mikey and Don. All unharmed and alive, and then us four getting out. Away from this hell-hole.

But I was stuck here.

"Is he well-enough to move?" The man in the room asks, and both he and the woman direct their gaze towards me.

"He's been healing for a long time, he's well enough, the other one won't be affected by him. Besides, what other option do we have? M344 and M342 are unable to be viewed" M344, M342. Quickly I had learned what that branding moment had meant the first day we got here. They had burned numbers on our necks, reminders of who we were. Experiments, their property.

Mikey was M345, Don was M344 and Leo M342. I was M343. But they hadn't mentioned me, they had mentioned Don and Leo. And at their mention I felt a little bit of hope, they were alive at least. But the content angered me. 'unable to be viewed' . What the hell did those fuckers do to my brothers?

"Listen up mutant, you'll be wheeled to another room, and another one will join you. From the other side of the glass people will be filming you. You do not make a sound, or the other one will pay." The man says, glaring deeply at me. But I glared right back at him. The man huffed, looking at me like I was some sort of insect before walking out of the room.

"Sorry about my brother" The woman apologised, inching a bit closer to me.

I huffed angrily. "Whatever" I wanted to add something more, but I kept my mouth shut. Not because I wanted to be nice, but I was afraid they were gonna change their minds. Judging from the man's little rant I was going to be filmed, along with 'another one', which meant I was going to see Mikey.

And after not seeing or hearing from my brothers, I was dying to know how they were.

Eventually I found myself being wheeled through long halls, but the ride wasn't long. Even before I knew another door was pushed open and something cold was pressed against my skin. A short but powerful surge of electricity coursed through my system and I yelped in pain, convulsing against the straps and eventually falling down, muscles twitching from the electricity.

My mind was spinning and my limbs felt sore. And they took advantage of that. The straps were removed and shackles were their replacements. Though they only put shackles around my wrists. The chains were attached to the wall, giving me only a meter or 2 of movement. By the moment my limbs were working properly again, I had no way out.

"Your so called brother will be here in a few seconds. Once he is secured the news reporters will see the murderous turtles for the first time. Feel free to growl at them, animal" The same man, apparently the brother of the other woman who'd been in my room. And true to his word, the door opened after a few seconds.

And only then did it click that they weren't talking about me back in my room."Is he well-enough to move?" It wasn't about me, the one who got cut open on the second day we came here, God knows how long ago, they were talking about Mikey. HIs knees were buckling beneath him as the same woman and another strong man led him inside, gracefully dumping him a meter from me.

I wanted to jump on them, attempt to escape, but when Mikey's body tumble to the ground I changed my mind. I used the room the shackles gave me and I struggled my way over to Mikey, feeling the stitches pull with every movement. I gently dragged him backwards until we were both touching the wall.

"R-Raphie..?" Mikey mumbled as he saw me, and a small smile spread among his face, mixed with tears.

"I'm here" I assured him, not able to stop the tears from welling up. He looked awful. His skin was pale and clammy. And he was constantly shivering and twitching, not to mention that he was squinting his eyes, like the light was hurting him.

"Look at them!"

"Marvellous"

"They are smaller than I thought"

"So these are the turtle killers"

Voices filled the room, startling both me and Mikey. Clicks of camera's were heard, whispers and gasps, movements and steps. At the other side of the room, 4 meters away from this wall was a glass wall, behind said wall a handful of people with camera's and mics. All looking at us in disbelief.

Mikey shuddered next to me, and I wrapped my arms around him, tightly. To shield him from the camera's, to shield him from the people.

"How many are there right now mister Dane?" A woman spoke up after the voices had died down a bit. The twin-brother of the woman, apparently having Dane as his surname turned towards the woman who'd asked the question.

"There are currently four, but we do not know if there are more" Dane replies. "But we do know that they are extremely dangerous. If encountered, call 911 immediately" This time he turns to the camera's pointing at him and I growl lowly in my throat, Which immediately caused the camera's to switch towards me.

"Are they able to communicate?" Another reporter asked, a man this time.

"They are, but they rather not. Instead they prefer other ways to communicate." Dane turns away from the camera, flashing me a glare but victory was twinkling in his eyes. I could basically hear his thoughts. Growl, snarl, do something, anything. I know you want to. Animal.

So I kept my mouth shut, I wouldn´t let that bastard win. Instead I tightened my hold on Mikey and shifted away from he camera´s, using as much of my shell as I could. But with the way the room was surrounded by people I could never fully hide from all the people. And from the corner of my eyes I could constantly see camera´s pointed at me, wanting to record every single movement I made, every single breath I took.

It sickened me. Tears were fighting their way into my eyes but I fought back, clamming my mouth shut and willing the tears away. I would not cry in front of these camera´s. Not when I finally had my little brother in my hold again, not when his skin was practically radiating heat onto my skin, or when his head was safely tucked into my hold, and his even breathing ghosted along my plastron.

"Unfortunately the time is up everyone. I am sorry, we have to get these back to their rooms" Dane announces after a while, but the announcement couldn't've come sooner.

"That's okay. With whom can we schedule the next meeting? We could make an ongoing story about them, they could make great cash" Another voice said, and I could practically feel the growl bubbling up, screaming to get out. But I wouldn't give in.

"You can do that by my assistant, Kelsey, but I'm afraid I can't promise you these two back. The larger one is very violent and I don't want to risk any of them getting hurt. The other one isn't stable at the moment, and can easily sicken the species around him. But you will see the other two for certain."

At Dane's comment I slowly lowered Mikey slightly, viciously scanning him. Unstable, they said he was fucking unstable.

"What are they doing to you?" I whispered demandingly, speaking Japanese so they wouldn't know what we were talking about.

It seemed to take Mikey a few seconds before he knew what was going on but soon opened his mouth. "They want to know our immune system.. they keep injecting me or something to make me sick." At the mention of his experiments he starts to tear up slowly and I quickly bury him against my chest again, shushing him slightly.

No words can be spoken, what could I possibly say to him? That everything was going to be fine, that we were going to get out of here? I wanted to, I wanted to give him that hope, but I couldn't. Because I knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, not ever. There was nobody out there who supported us.

Dad would've come for us already, so he probably died that night. I didn't want to think about it, not the fact that we wouldn't escape nor the fact that dad was probably dead by now. So I held him, for as long as I could.

"If we don't see each other.. I love you Raphie.. and if you see Leo or Don, tell them that I love them" I choked on a sob, it felt so much like a goodbye, a permanent goodbye. But we´d see each other again, we HAD to.

"I will little brother, and I love you too." I responded, honestly not caring about my macho act right now. Maybe this was the only time I could hold Mikey, maybe this'd be the last time I could tell him. "And tell fearless and Brainiac as well 'kay? If you see them. Tell them I love them, I love all of you"

TMNT

The Dane family, 2 loving parents who were currently in Australia. Had made three children, a twin and another daughter, two years younger than the twins. The twins had always been close, Melanie Dane and Jordan Dane. But the three of them were inseparable. Emily, Melanie and Jordan.

Until they grew older, Emily went her own way while Melanie and Jordan both ended up here. That´s what Melanie told me a few days ago, how long ago I wasn´t so sure, but she told me, trusted me with this information. Not like I knew what I had to do with the information. But at least I could finally put a name to her face. Because I saw her a lot.

She and Jordan were the second in command of the facility. They made the decisions, but everything had to be approved by their boss, Daniel Brown. And she cowardly held that particular fact as an excuse for hurting me. So when she apologised when she told me I was going to undergo another surgery, I turned my head towards her.

"Don't gimme that okay? You know I can't do anything about it." She had tried, but I ignored her. I ignored her the rest of the time she was with me. The moment the cap was placed over my mouth and I was put under. Put under so they could once again cut me open and study my insides. The last thing I felt was a tears sliding down my cheek.

TMNT

"Your brother puked on me" Is the first thing she tells me, like it's the most normal thing to do. I blink multiple times, but finally her wet hair comes into focus. Her face is clean from all the make-up she was wearing, which wasn't much to begin with, and she suddenly looks years younger. Not like she went to college, or like she was 24.

"W-what..?" My voice was shaky, and my whole body was aching. A needle was pushed into my arm and a clear liquid was slowly dripping into my arm via the needle, the sack almost empty. Painkillers were my best guess right now.

"Your brother.. the one with the freckles. He puked on me, that's why my hair is wet" She told me without any emotion, casually shining a bright light into my eyes. I knew she was with Mikey, I had soon found out that the four of us were sharing two people. Don and Raph had Jordan, while me and Mikey had Melanie.

"What ..are you doing to him" I whispered, allowing her to check me over. I couldn't resist to begin with.

"We are testing his immune system. Seeing how fast he recovers from something we as humans can catch"

I don't even bother telling her that we are human as well. Just not fully genetically humans, but we were humans. But I had given up the second day, they just wouldn't listen. They were biased when they looked at us, biased when they judged us, and when they spoke of us. They only say the 'killer turtles'.

So I turned my head towards her, and let her test my body, just like she had done after my first surgery. And a lonely tear fell down my cheek once again. Not just because for me, not because of the dull ache that was radiating from my new wounds, not because I wanted to get out of here so badly. But also for my brothers.

Who were suffering so much, and I couldn't help them or protect them in any way.

I failed them.

TMNT

Darkness, that was all I could see. And it had been the last thing I had seen. Darkness. I don't even know how long it had already been since they'd done it, or how long it would work. But I knew it must've been long. It sure felt long. My arm was throbbing, still, my head spinning even though I was laying on a soft mattress.

It felt foreign under my skin, the mattress was too soft, not comfortable under me, it wasn't familiar. I wanted to go home. To see dad again, my brothers. I wanted to wake up in my lab, and realise this was all a bad dream. I wanted Dad to carry me to my room like he does most of the time when I fall asleep on my laptop instead on a bed.

I want to feel him tuck me in a like a small child, And I want to feel the blush of embarrassment spread among my cheeks as I see him the next day, remembering how he carried me to bed like a child. I wanted my Mikey to tease me about it, I wanted Raph to join him. Or Leo to try to comfort me, while trying to contain his laughter.

Everything was better than this darkness.

I still remember the pain vividly. The burning sensation like my eyes were on fire, and soon after the darkness surrounding me no matter how much I fought. My arm and head were still suffering the aftereffects of the blood that was drown, too much for me to function normally after it. But not too much to be deadly, or to have too many consequences for longer than a day.

Which was the only positive I could get from this, the fact that I knew it hadn't been a day yet. Probably close.. but not a day yet. The throbbing was still present, the light-headedness as well.

Just like the want to go home.

To get me and my brothers out of here, and for us to go home.


	6. Chapter 6

Leo.

The third one, this was the third one already. I had no idea how long it's been and it wasn't like I could count the surgery's to know. They were irregular. I had soon noticed. The first time they had given me a long time to recover. I could tell by the way my cuts were healed, I could tell because they didn't tear open at every movement. But still they needed the stitches.

After my second surgery they gave me a bit longer. No idea what they did in between. But they had no need to rush after all. It wasn't like we had any change to escape. They made sure of that. So my cuts started to heal again, slowly the skin sewing itself back together. They didn't bother to put anything on the cuts.

Anything that wasn't necessary, wasn't done. No scar cream, no painkillers, none. Not too much though. They did feed me painkillers of some sort, but only to make it bearable, to make sure I was responsive enough. I guess they didn't want to 'waste' good and expensive drugs to us. Or it was the fact that they didn't know what we could handle.

Because there were some medicine we couldn't handle as mutants. But so far Don had only uncovered the very complicated ones, you know, medicine we would never use in our lives. But we all knew there were ones that wouldn't react well to us. Although I prayed we would never find them.

And just when my skin started to heal again, and the lingering pain started to die out, they put me under again.

"Melanie please listen to me okay? You've seen me, we've had conversations. You know we are not dangerous" She was back again, sitting in my room and writing things down on the clipboard.

"I can't Leo" She says, pulling the chair closer to the hospital bed I was on, straps yet again around my limbs.

"Why not? You know that we would never hurt anyone Mel. You admitted it yourself"

"That was before they bothered to analyse the equipment you and your brothers carry Leonardo. They found traces of blood on them, a lot of it." She says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"We're ninja's Mel, but.. we never killed an innocent. We try to avoid it. None of us like to kill someone, even if that person wants to kill us"

A smile spreads on Melanie's face. "Finally an honest answer. So you did kill someone?" But immediately she puts up her hand. "Don't answer that. What I want to know is why. Why do you guys carry around weapons, and why did you become ninja's"

"To avoid this" I whisper, my eyes suddenly stinging from the painful realisation. "Dad always knew that humans would never accept us.. heck he was human himself and he didn't accept us at first. So he started training us when we were 5 years old. And when we were old enough to go topside we kinda got tangled with .. bad guys and we took it upon ourselves to protect the city."

"So you lied to me, there is someone else"

Shit. Only then did I realise I had given away our father, dad, Master Splinter. Shit. I wasn't supposed to say anything about him. He was supposed to be a secret. Now they were probably going to be out there, looking for him. Or rather his body.

"He's dead" I mumble, squeezing a lone tear from my eyes. Mel's face twists slightly, some sort of grimace appearing on her face. A short silence followed before she 'calmly' walked over to the other side of the room, turning her back towards me. Her head was bowed, a hand on her forehead. After a few silent seconds her other hand moves up, both used to rub her temples roughly.

"I'm sorry for your loss Leo" The sentence kinda surprises me. I didn't think she would feel bad for my loss. She'd shown interest in me, interest without wanting to take advantage of that. She was interested in our lives, what we were exactly, and she mostly wanted to know by talking. But I would never think she would actually feel bad for my loss or anything.

"Do you miss him?"

I frown, a weird mixture of confusion and anger bubbling up inside of me.

".. What?!" I whisper in confusion. "Of course I miss him Mel! He was my father. You may not agree but we aren't animals! We're humans just like you"

"Not all of you" She retorts, pursing her lips slightly.

I give her a confused look, feeling the anger drain from my body. Making way for more confusion, and dread. Because I didn't like where this was going. Even if I had no idea where this was going.

"Not all of them are good Leo. And don't tell me I'm wrong. Because I've seen it myself" The tone raised the more the sentence progresses. And then it kinda hits me. That dreadful feeling when you suddenly figure something out. Like a twist from a TV show where the innocent person turns out to be the villain. Something like that.

Exactly that feeling.

"A mutant killed your sister.. right?" The last word absolutely hesitant. Because even though it was asked to get an answer, I wasn't so sure if I wanted the answer.

"They killed Emily when she was 16 years old. Kidnapped her and killed her brutally. All because of you!" She screams. Throwing a notebook towards me. Fortunately for me her aim was terrible and notebooks tend to change direction once you throw them so it didn't hit me.

"Unlike my brother I got therapy but that doesn't mean I forgive you. I want to Leonardo, I really want to but once you get out you'll end up hurting people again. Just like you did with Emily" She continues, tears lingering in her eyes. Tears of anger.

"Melanie be reasonable. I'm sorry to hear that but you know that this isn't fair! Not every mutant is the same. Yes, there are mutants who are evil, trust me, we've encountered them. But not all of them are evil. Would it be fair for me to go after every human just because they killed my dad? Because it isn't. Not all humans are the same."

"I want to believe you Leo, I really do but how can I know for sure? You can be straight-up lying to me right now. You've done it before to keep your father a secret."

And I knew there was only one way to convince her.

TMNT

Donnie:

Everything was aching and hurting, every muscle in my body was tense and my brain was overloaded, throbbing from the use and the electric shocks combined. I didn't even notice the pads on my temples anymore. My skin had long cooled down to match the temperature of said pads.

I grind my teeth together, another shock flowing through my body.

"How is this even..-" I start to yell but clamp my mouth shut the moment another question appears on the screen. My brain hurts so much and my vision is swimming. The loading bar slowly empties, my time running out.

"27! The answer is 27" I scream, the time running out just seconds later. My body relaxes slightly. 10 seconds. That was all the time I would get to rest. Not after a wrong answer, but only after a good one. Math, Geography, Physics, everything is tested. The 10 seconds pass to quickly, and before I know it another question jumps onto the screen.

My stomach jumps, my brain trying to focus.. really trying to but the electricity combined with the lack of sleep.. and basically just the whole situation.. I can't.. I can't do this. My body seizes up, electricity rolling through my body once again, and a howl of pain escaped my lips. They are merciless and just after the electricity stops another question appears on the screen.

"Newton" I say, my voice rasping again. There is no electric shock again, but another question doesn't come. Instead he screen suddenly goes black and the door opens, revealing Jordan and another woman with a high ponytail, fair hair and dressed in a white lab coat.

"What was that?" I whisper, dropping my head backwards until it hit the surface behind me. A bliss of relief washes over me, although my head is still pounding, the support drains it a little bit.

"Testing your brain capacity" The woman tells me, not sparing me a glance as she takes of the pads of my temples. A shiver runs down my spine as they are disconnected, still my body keeps twitching like they are still connected to my body. Like the electricity is still running through them at every wrong answer, like it had been for the past .. time.. I didn't even know how long.

"The electricity wasn't necessary" I mutter bitterly.

"It was, otherwise you wouldn't've bothered to answer them" The woman says, flickering pitying eyes towards me. And it sickens me. How she can pity and torture me at the same time. But I guess when it's for science it's suddenly legal or something. It's somehow redeemable.

But only this way, humans to mutants. If it were to me doing that to a human it would be considered a crime.

But what's the difference really?

TMNT

Mikey:

I always had a big imagination, but somehow imagining a blanket was too far. Guess I couldn't really blame my mind. And besides, it wasn't like imagining a blanket would make me stop shivering. Didn't mean I still wanted to try it, the problem was that I just couldn't do it, I couldn't concentrate long enough.

My brain was hazy, messed up because of the fever.

Whatever you can this.

This didn't even qualify as a fever anymore, or a cold, or a normal human sickness. It was everything combined. Sweat was trickling down my forehead in big rivers. My stomach was jumping up and down. My head was pounding and everything was bright, too bright. Even without the light on its lowest. So I kept my eyes shut tightly.

For the last 2 days.

And on top of that was the pain. The excruciating pain that was constantly lingering. It was like my blood was made of liquid lava. Everything hurt, breathing hurt, moving hurt, talking hurt. So I just curled up into myself, pretending (and failing at pretending) the warm blanket around me. Imagine the tiny bit of warmth I could muster, and I could get warmer.

So I would stop shivering, and it would stop hurting. Though I knew that the pain would still lingering without the shivering.

"I never thought he would react this violently." Someone spoke far away. I knew it couldn't be far away, and that the person was probably standing really close but I couldn't... I couldn't focus on anything.. I could do nothing at all.

"Me neither. But we can use this to our advantage. Make weapons out of it to stop them from terrorising. Did you see how fast he reacted to it?"

"1 minute and 57 seconds. I recorded it remember?"

"True, true. But that's beside the point. I should get this to Daniel. So we can try to make this into a real weapon. Once we hit them with this, they won't be able to escape"

"Shouldn't we.. make an antidote or anything? It's been two days already Dyl"

"It'll wear off before we can make one Mel. It isn't worth it." There is a short silence, and I wanted to look badly what was happening but I kept my eyes shut, knowing all too well what happened the last time I made that mistake. Like fire being poured into my eyes, blinding and stabbing pain.

"You know Daniel doesn't approve when someone goes against his orders Mel" Another silence ".. But I reckon that if we want to make it a weapon we will need to test it again.. I will cover for you" And then silence follows again. And it isn't interrupted again.

Just silence and whatever is happening to me.

Pain.

TMNT

I looked down at my body again, mesmerising all the cuts that littered my body. Not battle scars or anything like that. No, they were neat lines, surgical. Cowardly carved into my skin. Skin that was slowly sewing itself back together again. It's been a few days give or take after yet another surgery, my third one. It must be close to a week but then again, I had no idea what they did to me.

They could've accelerated my healing for all I know. Which would be awesome if we weren't in this situation right now.

Fast healing meant more experiments. But that wasn't the point right now, and frankly I didn't even want to think about the possibility. The weird thing right now was the way I was being moved, my shell pressed against the wheelchair, my hands to the armrests, and legs receiving the same treatment. It was different, mostly I'd be moved on the bed.

But it wasn't like I could protest, or change their minds.

"I can't promise you anything Leonardo. But I will take a look" Melanie whispers in my ear, warily of the guard walking with us. Despite the situation I felt a spark of hope hit me. "For your and my sake, don't do anything stupid in that room okay? They're already wary of letting me do this experiment"

The last word was obviously laced with …. Something….I wasn't even sure how to describe it. But it was obvious that this experiment, whatever it would be, wasn't an experiment. It was made up, she pretended it was an experiment.. but it wasn't. The question was, why she would do this? What could be so important that she'd go against normal protocol to make it happen.

Luckily the question didn't go unanswered for long. But the moment I saw what it was, my mind wasn't focused on that at all.

I vaguely registered the claps around me coming undone via an automatic system, the door already long closed behind me so I wouldn't escape. But I could only focus on the green figure in the middle of the room.

"Raph!" I yelled out, the name foreign on my tongue.

He looked sickly, and I was disgusted to see the bandages wrapped around his limbs, just like mine. They were in the exact same place as mine, at least if I were to wearing bandages.

His head fell to the side, his green eyes blinking into focus as he heard me. The effect was instantaneous, and tears jumped into his eyes the moment a broad smile spread on his face. A rare smile I had only seen a couple of times in my entire life. A genuine smile that was the biggest I had even seen.

"Leo" His voice wasn't gruff or angry, everything was gone. Replaced by a loving and desperate voice. I ran over to him, ignoring the dull pain it caused my body.

"I'm here, I'm here." I chanted, hugging him as much as I could with him being chained to the table. "Ssssstt.. sstttt it's gonna be okay. It's okay. I'm here now. Ssst.. don't cry Otouto" I shushed him, rocking him back and forth gently, as much as his bonds would allow him.

Raph pressed his face into my shoulder, and hot tears streamed down his face, onto my exposed skin. And that only made me cry more, big tears streaming down my face.

"I'm here… I'm here.. ssssst. We're gonna be alright otouto.. ssstt" I chanted again, rubbing my thumbs along his cheeks, my digits becoming wet the moment they touched his tears. He was fully crying right now, and so was I. We both were, but both too relieved to care. I hugged him tightly, refusing to let him go for even a second.

And Raph didn't protest the slightest.. allowing me to hug him. Eventually Raph calmed down slightly, going lax in my arms. Some time must've passed but it felt like a few seconds. Slowly I drew back, disconnecting the hug and Raph immediately tensed again.

"L-Leo" He cracked, bursting into tears all over again. Completely out of character. Of course he was for Christ sake. Of course he would be.

"I'm here.. " I muttered, hugging him tightly again and reaching out for his bound hand, lacing my fingers with his. His grip was strong, despite the painful experiments they had done.

"I love you Leo.. and I'm sorry I yelled at ya all those times. I really love ya man. You're the best big bro I could have." Raph mumbled against my shoulder, tension slowly draining from his body and his mind overcoming the shock of seeing a brother after… heck, I didn't even know how long. But it must've been long. A few weeks? Months?

"I love you too hothead, don't ever doubt that." I respond, laughing through the tears and putting my forehead against his. His brow is sweat and clammy, cold, but I don't care for now. All that mattered was that I was finally able to see my younger brother again.

"I had to tell you… Mikey asked me to.. I don't know whe-.. .He said he loved you, all of us. I .. I-I had to t-tell you he s-said" And it broke my heart to hear his voice break through the sentence, struggling to even form the right words. What had they been doing to him?

Slowly I created some space between our foreheads, my sea blue eyes staring into his green ones. They seemed wrong.. there was a constant waver of panic in them. Relief, but also panic. He seemed so stressed out.. so incredibly stressed. Like someone was going to attack him right there, like something was going to happen anything soon.

PTSD.

The word clicked after a couple of seconds, and I immediately pressed him against my shoulder again, hiding my own tears from him. PTSD. Fuck. I knew it was going to happen… deep down I knew it was. And I didn't even know if he really had PTSD right now, I wasn't.. I wasn't like Donnie. But this.. all of this had already scarred him badly.. just so badly.

It had scarred all of us.

"I love you too little brother.. all of you.. I love you so much.." I mumble, my voice cracking throughout the whole sentence.

TMNT

Melanie:

If someone would've told me I'd be walking down the sewers I'd kindly tell them to fuck off. Because there was no way in hell someone would freely walk into those. But ironically here I was, walking through the sewers. But what I was seeing.. could that even be considered a sewer? Because I was pretty sure it couldn't. It was, it just wasn't.

Sure there was a soft lingering smell of sewer but it was masked by.. well normal scents.

Normal scents, water, wood, fresh air almost. It was huge. And it was a home. There was no other word to describe it, it was a home. A huge, weirdly located home. For four .. teenagers. Just teenagers. No older than 16. Four brothers. Brother who grew up together, in fear for the humans above them. For the stories that their father had told them.

He was beautiful, not attractive.. just I don't even know how the describe it. He stood proud and tall, a loving gaze on his face while he sat on the ground, his four sons crowded around him. Leonardo was sitting next to his father, on his knees like a real ninja, just like his father. The purple one, who must be Donnie, had an arm around the red one, Raph by the looks of it.

There was an hesitant smile on Raph's face, his arms folded over his chest but the love in his eyes could not be missed. Mikey had climbed on top of his father, the toddler laughing carelessly and using his dad as an anchor, so he wouldn't fall.

But that wouldn't last another 10 years…. Because one day their dad wouldn't be there to catch them.

Because according to Leo he had died, unable to keep his children safe from the cruel humans.

And it wasn't fair, it was… inhuman. That's what it was.

It was inhuman, human, inhuman. They were just like them. They had toys, they had messy bedrooms, they had a dad. Ate, drank, played, fought, they were human. Just like I was, just like everyone else. And maybe even more humane. Leo was right, we couldn't generalise the mutants, if one mutant committed a crime.. we couldn't hold the entire mutant race guilty..

They were human, and it was inhuman to keep them there.

And I was going to get them out,

But I was going to need help.


	7. Chapter 7

"How did you know?"

Her hair is brown, a few lighter streaks at the end of it but barely noticeable. It's falls free, stopping at her shoulder blades, and it's curled slightly. Her face is troubled, but she doesn't look old. In fact it looks like she's barely an adult, no offense to her. She was young, too young to be leading this.

"Leonardo told me, but he never said anything about knowing any human teenagers" The woman replies, causing me to frown. Casey walks up to me, standing next to me.

"That's because he doesn't know us. Though what I am wondering is how you know about them." Her eyes cast downwards, as if she was ashamed of the reason. And by the flush on her cheeks and the regret I could see I was right.. and I didn't like it.

"Let's go inside first. Just.. please hear me out okay? I didn't know either" She says, turning around as she walks into the apartment. I frown slightly, casting my head towards Casey. A reassuring smirk appears on his face and he reaches for my hand. With a nod I take it, feeling secure already. He was my best friend after all, we had been.. for so many years.

Most people would find our friendship weird, Casey was so much different, but somehow it worked. Once Casey got past the whole 'babe' thing. When we really started to build a solid friendship. And even my overprotective dad let him, because he knew, just like we did, that we were just friends and nothing more.

"This isn't where we usually meet.. but I figured this would be more comfortable" The woman says, pointing at the couch, inviting us to sit down. "I am Melanie by the way, Melanie Dane…." She stops for a little while, looking at us hopefully, expecting an answer as well.

"April, and this is Casey" I say, and she nods before walking away. I glance at Casey again. "Do you think we can trust her?"

"I don't know yet, but obviously she knows the guys. And figuring what Yoshi said, Leo won't tell her things so easily" I nod slightly, not knowing how to reply. All the personalities we now give to each of them, Leo, Raph, Don and Mikey, they were given by Master Splinter. We hadn't met them, never seen them outside of captivity, never together with the four of them.

Everything we knew about them was told by their father. And it felt wrong to talk about them like we knew them, when we never experienced them for real, never got to know them before.

"Mostly I don't do these things.. but Leo asked me to check" Melanie says, walking back in with a tray, consisting of three cups containing hot water and a jar with tea bags. I gratefully accept one of the cups, savouring the warm feeling of the cup.

"Check what? What did he ask you?" Casey butts in, and it was clear he did not trust her at all. Cute face be damned, she knew the guys. Somehow she knew them. And it was suspicious, even I couldn't deny that.

"He wanted to make sure his father was really dead. So he asked me to post something only he would understand"

"A phrase only the five of them would understand. Something innocent to the rest of the world, but a secret message to their father" I say, smiling sadly when Melanie nods to confirm it.

"Though I never thought someone would respond after so long.. it's been over a month since I posted that message. Why now?"

My smile falters slightly and I rub the back of my neck slightly. "We only found out about them a week ago. Something.. something happened a week back. And then we went looking for clues where they were and what they were doing to them. That's when we searched the website, and found the message. Someone recognised it."

"Who?"

"Listen up Melanie. This has to stay between us for now, okay? Because if this gets out we'll be far from home. And I know you don't want that either, figuring you set this all up" Casey butts in, shuffling forwards and practically glaring at Melanie. The latter nods, a little confused and scared.

"You said there was only one person who could recognise the message. It was the name of a Japanese verse the guys were taught as children." I start, taking a quick sip from the tea. "Their father is alive. He has been staying with us. That's why we contacted you. Only the guys would know it. He knew you had to know them somehow"

Melanie stares at us. Confused and most importantly overwhelmed by my confession.

"I told Leo…. that he would've come. He was hoping.. but I couldn't let him get his hopes up." She whispers, tears jumping in her eyes. "Why didn't he come? Why hasn't he tried something? Anything?! Why didn't he respond earlier?!" She cried out, from sadness and frustration.

"Because I could not" Master Splinter softly says, startling both Casey and Melanie with his sudden presence. But I already knew he was following us the entire time, making sure he… making sure he wouldn't lose more children in the process. Because that's what we became to them. Children. Even if we were both 18. Not children according to the law, but he still viewed us that way.

"You're alive..?" Melanie asks in disbelief, staring at the mutant rat that was now standing next to our couch.

"Not even 'how the fuck did you enter my apartment, or you are a rat?'?" Casey whispers in my ear and I smile slightly. Leave it to Casey to make a joke like that. It's something I love so much about. Back when we met he only hang around me because I was 'hot' or something. And he was constantly joking, ever if the situation was serious, or sad or anything. Basically when the jokes wouldn't be appreciated.

But he grew out of it slowly, and it started to balance out. He still joked, at times like these, but he knew when to be serious.

Master Splinter's ears twitchs slightly, indicating he had heard what Casey said. But he didn't make a comment.

"I am. And I am sorry I am so late. But that is a story for another time." He says, folding his hands over the cane he was holding. "For now I want to know about the organisation you have set up"

Melanie nods, still a bit shocked by his sudden appearance. "It's not much yet. I made it a little before I sent that message. It was after I realised that the guys weren't the bad guys here, but we were." Melanie whispers. Continuing when Master Splinter gave a stern nod.

"I made a promise to Leo y'know… I would help him out of that hell-hole. I just didn't know how, I still don't know how. But I figured that my best shot was with more people to support me. That's why I set it up, convincing people that they aren't animals. Though not a lot of people are convinced yet"

Master Splinter nods, and I could see the fight he was putting up to hide his own emotions, to hide his own sadness. But he pushes past them, walking over to Melanie and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Melanie startles slightly but doesn't pull away, instead she looks up, their eyes connecting.

"Then we will help you Melanie. I won't stop until my sons have been freed"

TMNT

3 weeks ago

"He's unconscious right now but I can get you to him."

"Why? Why would you risk yer job for me?" I retort, my voice raspy and unused. Melanie smiles slightly, hesitantly.

"It'll be fine Raph" She shushes, rubbing my shoulder gently. "Don't you wanna see him? You haven't seen any of them for weeks. Apart from Leo that is"

"I want to Mel, but we can't lose you 'kay? If ya get caught there will be no one left to help us." I argue.

"That won't happen okay? I've checked, the inner-circle is abandoned right now. Even Jordan is gone" She says, unstrapping the belt across my chest and carefully helping me to sit up. The inner-circle was the term for our facility. Some kind of round, large space filled with rooms and corridors. Once inside, the scientists were free to roam.

The circle surrounding the inner-circle was heavily guarded. Even Melanie, head of this facility, wasn't trusted enough to walk out of here without being checked. And with the inner-circle abandoned, it meant that Melanie was free to roam the corridors, with me tagging along.

"Well yea, he loves to watch seeing us suffer." I mumble angrily. Melanie sighs with a small smile on her face.

"You know Don and Leo aren't harmed when they are displayed. That's when they can't hurt them, otherwise the outside world would know. They are safe for the coming hour." It sickened me. How people would be interested to watch us. 2 days a week someone would come and film us, or rather Leo and Don, and broadcast it to television.

Once a week other visitors were allowed to see them. Mikey and me were never allowed. Probably because of my temper, even if they had long managed to get that out of me. And Mikey.. he wouldn't be able to. Back when they first saw us he was still doing okay-ish. Now.. they couldn't show him. Because they couldn't broadcast a sick and hurting animal.

No idea what lie they made about Leo's bandages and wounds, but apparently it was working. And Don.. he was like the chameleon to the experiments. Both Leo and me were appointed to vivisection, that way they could find out more about how our body worked. Mikey was tested on diseases and how our immune system was linked. Don was.. well the chameleon.

Whatever they wanted to know. If there was something they wanted to know, they could go to Don. They did all sort of random experiments on him. Intelligence, drugs and so on. The latter was combined with Mikey once, seeing how immune systems differed from each other. Mikey had been given the antidote almost straight-away, while Don had been forced to suffer through the whole painful withdrawal.

But they had never seen each other.

Don had no visible marks on him, no signs that he was being tortured. But we all knew better.

"Why now?" I whisper as Melanie helps me off the table. My legs tremble slightly beneath me from the lack of use but I'd manage.

"They did another experiment.. but it didn't work out the way they planned. Apparently your mutagen doesn't go with vasopressors, used to treat blood poisoning"

"What happened?" My stomach jumps slightly, my heart squeezing at the thought. Melanie told me what they were doing to him, blood poisoning, trying to see if his body reacted the same way as humans would do. But that was two days ago. And they never made him go through another experiment so soon. Not once they started to get really serious.

"He didn't react well with the medicine we gave him and he.. " She stopped for a few seconds, pushing open the door in front of us. "well this happened".

There, in the middle of the room was Mikey. He was flat on his shell, eyes closed like he was sleeping peacefully. But he was far peaceful. There were several wires connected to his right arm, all attached to a sack with different liquids in it. A breathing mask was on top of his face, the long tube connected to a machine. There were pads on his plastron, connected to a heart machine next to his bed.

"No…" I have to force my legs to move, move towards him. I don't know how long it's been. Longer than twee weeks. That's when I saw Leo, and that was quite a while after I saw Mikey for the first and last time in so many weeks.

His skin was awfully pale, and there was a slight wheezing whenever he took a breath. The breathing mask fogged over every time he did so. A few droplets of sweat were on his face and I gently wiped them away. And he looked so pale, sick.

"Hey little bro" I whisper. He looks so fragile, like he would break with one single touch. Tears jump in my eyes and I turn to Melanie. "Has he.. has he seen anyone apart from me that one time?" That one time, a few days after our capture. 6 week ago. 6 damn weeks.

And Melanie shakes her head.

"We couldn't.. it was too dangerous with all the experiments they did to him… that I did to him. I could find some excuses for you to meet up with Leo a couple of times. And Donnie and Leo could see each other two times a week. But it was too dangerous, and too suspicious"

I cast my head towards Mikey, hot tears rolling down my face. He hasn't seen anyone.. he has seen nobody for all these weeks. Nobody but the people who hurt him.

"I kept him updated though. He knows that the three of you are alive and .. " She stops in the middle of the sentence, stopping herself from continuing. "He knows that I'm on your side now, and that I'm trying to bail you out. And Leo has given him some messages through me"

"What is happening to him right now?" I whisper, gesturing to my sleeping brother.

"The moment we injected him with the antidote he started to have an allergic reaction to it. He started to bleed and his haemoglobin count dropped immensely. We've been treating him ever since. The vasopressors are messing up the making of the red blood cells. Basically haemoglobin is the oxygen part of-"

"I know what Haemoglobin is. I ain't stupid" I cut her off, reaching out for Mikey's right arm and slowly rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand.

"I know… I just assumed."

I hang my head for a minute. I didn't mean to snap at her, I know.. I know she was only trying to help us. I know she felt horrible for all these things that she did to us, but we both knew that she had to do it to prevent her cover from being blown. And we also knew that she had prevented many experiments from being done to us. If anything, she reduced them, made them less cruel, less frequent.

"Just.. please tell me if he's gonna be okay"

"Don't worry, he will be. The first two days were tough but he'll pull through. We have him on a lot of antibiotics and insulin right now. Once the vasopressors are out of his system he'll be okay. Weak at first.. but okay."

I sigh, still rubbing his right arm and looking at his pale face. "Hey otouto, why don't ya wake up for me?"

"He's been out for 2 days mostly. He woke up a couple of times but that didn't last more than a few seconds" Melanie says, handing me one of the chairs that were in the corner of the room. I flash her a grateful, albeit hesitant smile and sit down next to Mikey, still holding his hand.

It was silent for a bit, and neither of us cared. She had also taken a seat but kept her distance, allowing me to have some time 'alone' with Mikey. And neither minded the silence that fell upon us. It wasn't uncomfortable in any way. It was relaxing. Of course luck wasn't at my side again, and the moment didn't last long.

It started with an extra beep of the heart machine, followed by a weak cough.

"Mikey?" I immediately shoot up, causing the chair behind me to clatter to the ground. I wince slightly but my focus is on Mikey. Another set of coughs wracks through his body and suddenly something drips out of his nose. Blood.

"What is this? What is happening?!" I cry out, concern filling me. Melanie walks over to the other side of the table, flashing me an apologising smile.

"Calm down, it happens. His body is trying to get rid of the vasopressors. It looks bad, but it's actually a good sign he's doing this" She explains and pushed the oxygen mask of his face. "Hold him up for me" She orders and I obey, gently lifting Mikey up until he's sitting. Though the only reason he is still sitting upright is because of my arms. Too weak to support himself.

His eyes are slightly open, just barely, and blood is flowing out of his nose. So dark it almost looks black.

"He'll be okay right?" I whisper and Melanie smiles again.

"Don't worry Raph, he will be. This is a good sign" She responds, gently wiping away the blood from Mikey's face. I grimace, I hate seeing any of my bros hurt, or bleeding. Melanie has to do it a few times since his nose is still bleeding but after a couple of minutes it stops all together. Mikey tenses a bit more, leaning against me, drained.

"Nii-chan?" His voice was soft, almost hesitant.

"I'm here otouto" I whisper back, willing the tears away but failing miserably at it. And I didn't even care right now, it didn't matter. I smile through the tears and gently lower him on the bed again, picking up his hand once again.

"Don't cry" Mikey whispers, almost too soft for me to hear it. "You look ridiculous nii-chan" And I laugh, snorting slightly at his comment.

"Shut up" I smile, gently squeezing his hand to assure him. There's a weak squeeze from his side before his eyes shut slowly, until they are fully closed.

"Daisuki" He mumbles before his head falls to the side, falling unconscious once again.

"I love you too otouto" I mumble, never letting go of his hand.

Until Melanie is forced to separate us again that is.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure about this Raph..?"

"It's either Leo or me, and like hell I'm gonna let them hurt Leo again" I retort, glaring into Melanie's eyes, knowing full well that she knew that glare wasn't out of anger, towards her that is.

"Still.. I can't guarantee that it'll work.. and you aren't scheduled for another surgery for another week. What if that'll all be for nothing..?" She bites her lip in hesitation and looks away, her shoulders sacking with guilt. My face softens slightly and I carefully reach out to her, tipping her chin so that she is forced to look at me.

"Listen Mel, I ain't happy about this okay? But we need to do this. It's our best chance at convincin' them" I say, keeping my eyes locked with her grey ones.

"I know that Raphael. But we aren't sure that this will work. I don't want to put you through that.."

"And I am more than willing to take that risk okay? We need to do something.. dad won't be able to convince anyone without footage"

Mel's face softens completely, a look of guilt and sadness crossing her face. "I still don't like it Raph.. what if it doesn't work? It isn't worth the ri-"

"The risk?" I cut her off, eyeing at her. "Look at me Mel. I'm covered in surgical scars already. So is Leo. Don is currently undergoing whatever they want to know, and Mikey is still recovering from the gallstones you've put him under. And I haven't seen them together for 2 whole months." I rant, putting emphasis on the last few works, pausing in between every one of them.

"Trust me on this, I'm more than willing to take that risk. Everything to get my bros outta here"

Melanie sighs, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You know the plan?" She asks me and I roll my eyes with a smirk.

"Make sure the rest does" I say.

"Will do" Mel says, giving me a quick hug before standing up. "Convince them 'kay? We'll do the rest" I smirk at the comment, but from the inside my stomach was turning violently, bile rising every second I thought about what was coming. But she didn't need to know that. Neither did she need to know that I didn't have to act to convince them.

Because I was terrified.

"Mel?" I ask, stopping her from exiting the room. "Just.. tell 'im I love him. My dad I mean. Tell him 'kay?" A sad smile appears on Mel's face and she nods.

"He knows.. but I'll tell him." She replies and then she's gone. And I'm left alone, waiting for another surgery.

"And tell him not to look" I whisper in vain.

TMNT

"The plan is simple actually.. but that doesn't mean I like it"

"Me neither" I grumble. "Why didn't you tell me Mel? I would've volunteered." I look at her, willing the tears away that were threatening to come up. Only thinking about Raph undergoing another surgery had my stomach twisting. We were under.. we didn't feel pain until after the surgery, and even that was treated for as much as they dared, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt us.

We felt the pain, both physical and emotional.

It scarred us both in body and in mind. And I didn't want to admit it, but it broke both me and Raph already. I could tell by my own thoughts, the way I'd sometimes just give up and accept this, I could tell by the way Raph acted around me, one of the rare occasions we were allowed to be together.

"Because Raph already did. He wanted me to keep it a secret so you wouldn't convince me otherwise" Mel says, putting a hand on my shoulder but I absently shrug it off. "Leo don't be mad please. It's more believable this way, Raph has had one surgery less than you have. And the guys need you to lead them out of here"

"Master Splinter will.. if it works" I mutter, turning my face away from her.

"He will, he will be the leader. But you need to be their leader as well, because you are something more than that. You are their big brother, and they need you just as much as you need them"

"Raph needed me as well" I bite back bitterly, tightening my fists on top of my legs.

"Don't be mad at me Leo.. "

"I'm not mad Mel" I whisper, continuing to hide my tears. Melanie shuts her mouth and a silence falls upon the room. A few seconds pass before Mel's stool is heard being shoved backwards and Mel walks in front of me. She doesn't say anything and I keep my head downwards, not wanting to show the tears or talk about it.

But she didn't expect me to. Instead she wraps her arms around me and brings me close.

"Oh honey" She whispers, stroking the back of my head. And that's when I fully break down. A sob wracks through my body and I feel fresh thick tears roll down my cheek. I just break down, every inch of agony exposed, and at the same time I had never felt so safe in the last two months.

"It'll be okay, the plan will work okay? I have camera's set up in the lab and we'll show them tonight. We'll show them what they are doing to you guys. And Master Splinter will convince them. It'll work okay?"

I nod numbly, not actually wanting to believe that promise. Skip that.. I wanted to believe it. I wanted nothing more than to get out of here.

But I wouldn't be able to stand the failure. I couldn't get my hopes up now, only to be disappointed later on.

"Do Mikey and Donnie know?" I ask eventually, my voice thick from the tears. I cough slightly and I untangle myself from the hug, but my hand stays locked with hers.

"No, but I will tell them after this."

"How are they?"

"Mikey is doing well. He'll fully recover but he'll be a bit weak for the coming days. Don isn't in any danger but he's still very weak from the drugs, he's mostly sleeping these last days"

I nod absently. Don't get me wrong, I was so glad that they were doing considerably well. But the fact that this was considered 'well' nowadays saddened me, and angered me in a way.

Next to me Mel sighs slightly. "I must get going. I need to be there as soon as they've finished the surgery to collect the footage. And assure that Raph is okay." She announces and stands up, still her hand doesn't leave mine. She looks down at it, a sad smile appearing on her face.

"It'll be okay Leo" She softly squeezes my hand and I return the gesture. "I just want to say that I'm sorry for everything I've done.. everything I have caused to your family."

"Don't say that, you didn't know. But you do now, and you're helping us getting out of here. I can't thank you enough" I backfire, squeezing her hand one more time before reluctantly letting go. "Don't blame yourself, I don't either"

She flashes me another smile. "Thanks Leo"

TMNT

"Hey Donnie"

There was a short silence.

"Donnie wake up" Someone was nudging my shoulder gently and I slowly opened my eyes, immediately greeted by two grey ones staring at me. I blink a couple of times, my vision blurry from all the sleep.

"Mel?" I whisper, frowning at her appearance.

"I need you to be awake for a couple of minutes 'kay? I need to tell you something important" She tells me and I attempt to sit up at the comment, somehow alerted. Though the moment my shell leaves the bed I collapse again, my arms trembling at the small exercise. Mel reaches forwards and helps me sit up slightly, an extra pillow beneath my head.

"What is wrong?" I ask her, frowning in concern.

"I spoke with your dad, and we came up with a plan to get you out."

My eyes widen and I stare at Melanie. "What..?!" I ask, not really knowing what to say. Mel snickers slightly at my reaction and pets my shoulder before the smile falters, the serious expression returning again.

"Raph volunteered to undergo another surgery, albeit a small one. I set up camera's so I'll have footage of it. We've convinced as many people as we could to attend a meeting tonight, and then we'll show them the footage. That included footage of you and Mikey, if you don't mind." She tells me.

"If it helps us out of here you can do whatever you want with that footage. I don't care" I shrug with a whisper and Melanie nods.

"So we'll show them the footage and then Master Splinter will try to convince them. He went back to the lair yesterday so I reckon he has something to show them as well. Did you have camera's back then? Y'know, you living in the sewer and all."

"We did have one once. But after a day of filming the battery ran out. I fixed the battery two years ago but by then we already had other devices. So maybe he wants to show that footage from when we were little tots. Though he also found some polaroid's throughout our childhood, so we have some pictures as well" I tell her and Mel nods her head.

"What is going to happen?" I ask her after a short silence, and I will my eyes to stay open but I can feel myself growing more tired and more tired by the second.

"We show them the footage and convince as many as possible that this is inhuman and all. IF that's done we ask them to convince others and tomorrow at midday we'll come here with everyone. While they create a distraction, we'll go into the building and free you guys. If the group of people is big enough, they won't be able to stop us."

"I hope so" I mumble, my eyes dropping once again.

"Go to sleep Don, you'll need your strength." She says, petting my shoulder one last time before disappearing.

TMNT

"We are so going to jail for this" Casey groans, but doesn't stop typing.

"Maybe, maybe not. But it'll be worth is in the end" I reply with a shy grin. "And will you stop being so nervous? Even if they manage to track our signal the door is locked and I still have my almost-brown belt"

"Still a red belt red" Casey retorts with a toothless grin and I hit his arm in response, earning a painful yelp from Casey.

Though it seems to work as his shoulders relax and tension leaves his body almost fully. Still, I can't fully disagree with Casey. It was a huge risk. We were doing something illegal after all. But it'd be worth it in the end. Without Casey hacking into the news, and broadcasting the video Melanie had put together, too little would know about the guys.

"Is it working Miss O'Neil?"

I swiftly turn around at the voice, my face softening as I see Master Splinter standing in the doorway with an uneasy expression on his face. Not like I could blame him, the outcome of tonight would decide the faiths of his sons. Either they'd be free, or be captive forever. But something told me he wasn't going to accept that last one.

But even with his ninja skills, he would never be able to bypass all the security in the building. We needed those humans, how painfully ironic it was.

"Don't worry Master Splinter, I'll be in in no time." Casey butts in. "Everyone watching the news will automatically be switched to the montage." A small smile appears on Master Splinter's face and he nods.

"Thank you, for everything you have done" Master Splinter says.

"You don't have to thank us Master Splinter. What you need is to help Melanie. She probably already started"

Master Splinter nods. "I will Miss O'Neil-"

"April" I interrupt him, smirking slightly.

"I will April" He corrects himself. "But I wanted to thank you nevertheless." He walks up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking down at me. I smile at him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He seems startled for a few second before wrapping his arms around me as well.

"And you too Casey" Splinter says, untangling himself from the hug.

"Don't worry Master Splinter" Then he mockingly grimaces. "But no hugging"

TMNT

"-.. know that you may not think that way, I thought the same thing when I first met them. Abominations, different.. dangerous. But I got to know them and I can tell you.. they aren't. They are different from exterior, but from the inside they are just like us. They are humans just like us. And they don't deserve to be locked up like that!"

The considerably small crowd started whispering, looking at each other in disbelief.

"How do we know you're speaking the truth? We've seen those other mutants working for criminals" One asks, raising his hand to catch my attention. I snort mentally, immediately knowing what the man was talking about, Rahzar and Fish Face. Who were, just like the turtles, made into a television programme of some sorts.

And the connection between them and several murders (and other illegal actions) was quickly discovered. Not like they made any afford to deny it.

But the turtles weren't like that..

"Because I met their father. And he's here to talk to you" I announce, causing the crowd to erupt in whispers once again. I take this as my cue and I turn to the door behind me, leading to the hallway behind the warehouse, which would eventually lead to the room where April and Casey were now trying to hack the broadcasting.

The whispers continued but I paid no attention to it as I opened the door and peeked behind it. As predicted Master Splinter was standing there, his gaze focused on me and visibly rigged. I smile hesitantly, holding out my hand for him. After a few seconds of hesitation he nods and accepts my hand, revealing himself to the crowd.

The whispers only increase by his reveal, some even turning into shouts.

"Calm down please! Just listen to him okay?!" I shout at the audience, my voice raised enough to get across my message. While the whispers and shouts die down, they don't cease completely, but it's enough for now. I give a short nod to Master Splinter, tempting him to take a step forwards, he does.

And how twisted it is, I'm glad that the world already knows about mutants. Because they knew about them, they knew they existed, so they weren't that surprised to see a mutated rat. Scared, anxious maybe, but not enough to run. And that was the last thing we needed.

"You do not need to fear me. I was once human, just like you. My name is Master Splinter and I am indeed the father of the four turtles you came to know from television." Master Splinter starts, and slowly the whispers die out. Then hesitantly a hand is raised.

"Yes?"

"How did you.. did you turn into this form? You said you were human before…"

Master Splinter chuckles slightly despite the situation. "I was my child. I am from Japan and I moved to New York 16 years ago. One day I came in contact with a foreign chemical called mutagen, which changed me and the four turtles I had bought that day. Changing me into this, and changing them into human turtles. I adopted them. They became my sons and I became their father."

"What were they like as toddlers? Did they.. I mean.." One of them spoke up, stopping in the middle of the sentence. But Master Splinter quickly seemed to understand what she meant.

"I would be able to tell you but.. "He eyes at me "..it would be wiser to show you." He nods and I nod back, pressing the play button.

I haven't seen the video's either, and I feel myself drawn to the screen, where four small turtles are now visible, probably not older than 5 years old. They are playing with each other, laughing and arguing like any other sibling would, but something is different, they are close. You can see the close bond they have. More video's pass. A shaky video pointing at two sleeping turtles, snickers erupting from the turtle behind the camera.

"Quick quick, before daddy comes back" Someone says in a whispered tone, the voice undoubtedly belonging to Raph. Leo snickers and walks up to the two sleeping turtles, both snuggled close. And I can feel myself smile as Leo quickly begins to draw their faces, moustache and glasses on either face. More video's pass.

Them training, Master Splinter cleaning Mikey's and Donnie's face. Leo and Raph training, the four of them playing hide and seek. And lastly the turtle pile. The four of them all tangled up together on a big mattress, back then still big enough for the four of them. There are two stuffed animals, one in Mikey's hold and one belonging to Raph.

Then the video ends. One day of filming, just like Donnie said.

But no one dares to speak, so I step forwards.

"I met them myself, and at first I was doubtful as well, confused what to think. But you've seen the video. They are just like you, like your own children or siblings. But that was not what we wanted to show you. The reason why we wanted you here is because we need as many people to create a distraction tomorrow."

"Why? What are you planning to do?"

"We are going to get them out of there. Horrible things are happening in that lab, horrors beyond imagination. And you've seen that they aren't animals. We have to free them"

"What are they doing then?" This time I sigh slightly, walking over to the screen once again.

"I think I can better show you"

And that's when I start the video. My face fills up with guilt as the first cry of anguish is heard through the speakers, but that was not what did it. It was Master Splinter's face filling with horror and sadness that did it. My heart was pounding painfully against my rib case and I had no idea how Splinter must be feeling right now.

He lasts about 30 seconds, right after the first tears leaked out of Raph's eyes.

And I can't shut off the video fast enough.

Silence falls upon the whole warehouse. While there was some murmuring beforehand, it was completely silent right now. I slowly make my way over to Master Splinter, who was sitting on his knees, head buried in his hands. Tremors wracking through his body, barely noticeable.

"I am sorry" He says slowly as I crouch down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. His voice is mostly steady but there was a slight tremor in his voice.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" I whisper, my stomach jumping as a single tear wells up in his eye. Master Splinter never cries. Not ever. Not when he first found out that his sons were captured, not when he heard the stories from me, not when I told him that Raph said he loved him. But he never saw it.

And seeing your own son getting tortured like that would break anyone.

Slowly the first tear falls down his face and he turns his head in shame.

Still it's awfully quiet in the small audience, nobody daring to move or speak. Until one steps forwards. Her hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail, barely 30 years old. Her face soft and caring, and looking at the fallen form of Master Splinter. Hesitantly she walks towards him, crouching down as well. Slowly Splinter lifts his head, both of them staring at each other.

"I…" The woman starts, shifting slightly "I have a son.. he's 14 years old.."

There's a short pause, still the only thing that is breaking the silence is the woman speaking, and the stifled breathing of everyone in the room.

"One day… 2 years ago he was doing groceries for me.. and when I turned on the TV I saw that grocery shop, filled with policemen, standing outside with guns drawn. Inside was my little boy, turned into a hostage." She stopped for a second, taking a deep breath. "I was terrified that day. And.. I.. it must be terrible to.. see your sons like that. Because I was too that day.. only for one day."

She clears her throat slightly, smiling hesitantly.

"A man saved my son that day, a man that didn't know me or my son. And now I'm going to help you. I'm with you, and I hope more will follow"


	9. Chapter 9

It didn't go according to plan, but when did it ever? Not like it was something to complain about, because somehow it worked better than Melanie had planned in the first place. Casey had managed to broadcast the clip, along with Melanie's speech, and people watched it, agreed with the things Melanie said. Social media blew up.

And not even an hour after the 'news' was supposed to broadcast, people were visiting the lab. A few cars at first, but that stream was joined, quickly. And within 30 minutes the parking lot was entirely filled, and more cars joined by the minute. 50 people was all it took for the building to be locked, visitors forbidden to enter.

But that didn't stop them.

It took 10 minutes for the FBI to arrive, but even they were too late to stop a few of them from entering the lab section of the building. And it was clear that Melanie wasn't the first one to try to get them out. There were others, others who saw right through the lie about Leo's bandages, or the excuses they've come up with why Mikey and Raph couldn't be shown again.

Enough to make the plan work.

"And now?" April whispers, looking at Melanie for help. Though Melanie was already busy, typing something on the computer next to the automatic doors. It worked, the guards were all called to help at the entrance, a few remained to guard the inner-circle of the facility, where the turtles were.

Too little to stop Splinter from taking them out. And with Melanie's card she could open the doors leading to that inner-circle. But other guards could as well.

"I closed the doors for now, but it won't last forever. C'mon" Melanie says, motioning for them to follow. April, Casey and Splinter all followed her. "Leo's in the best shape, we'll get him first"

Neither of them reacted to the comment and they just kept running, until Melanie stopped in front of one of the doors. Once again she used her card to open the door, and inside was Leo. His head snapped towards them and his eyes widened. There was a short silence, where neither of them dared to speak, or simply didn't know what to say.

"Dad!" Leo suddenly cried out, trying to twist himself out of his restraints. But they wouldn't give in. Tears jumped into his eyes and Splinter rushed towards his son as fast as he could, wrapping two strong arms around him. Leo didn't hesitate to bury his face in Splinter's robe and cried, loud sobs wracking through his body.

"Hush now, I am here my son." Splinter whispered in Japanese, stroking Leo's shell to comfort him.

Melanie hesitantly walked up to them.

"Master Splinter.. I really don't want to.." She stopped for a second, biting her own lip in hesitation. "We have to go, really. The moment we opened those doors the guards were notified. Unless some guard approves, the silent alarm goes off. We don't have much time"

Master Splinter nods, reluctantly releasing his oldest son.

TMNT

"Are you alright to walk?" I nod absently, rubbing my wrists as I get helped to my feet, restraints falling towards the ground. I felt free, which was weird considering it weren't the chains that kept me captive, and I've had them off more times than I can recall.. but still. This time was different. I was free for good, if it worked out I'd be free, we'd all be free.

"C'mon" Melanie ushers, walking out of the room that has kept me captive for so long. I stumbled for a few seconds, my legs protesting at the sudden exercise but I quickly managed to keep up with them without any help.

"What happened? I thought that tomorrow.." I stopped mid-sentence.

"Apparently there were more.. more people trying to bust you out. Once we made it public, they acted. And we did too" Melanie answers, skipping to a halt suddenly and turning around. "Raph and Mikey are opposite ways, we can get them faster if we split up." She tells us, handing over her card.

"Mikey's room doesn't require a card. Get to Raph, he'll need to be carried" Melanie announces, and Splinter accepts the card with a nod. "Leo come with me" She orders me and I nod curtly, running after her. I grimace slightly, knowing what Melanie is up to. She doesn't want me to see Raph.

For the same reason why officers weren't allowed to personally be involved in cases. The emotional tether would make them lose focus, would make them biased and mess up the case in the worst scenario. And my guilt over Raph's sacrifice was too big right now. Bigger than the guilt over not being able to protect my bros.

So I didn't say anything as we ran. Any other time I would be able to outrun Melanie without any effort but over the last 2 months I hadn't worked out.. and it was showing. I was working just as hard as Melanie to keep running. I was out of shape, my muscles were disappearing and I felt my lungs starting to protest.

It took us about five minutes to get to the right door and Melanie swiftly opened it, allowing me to run in. I immediately spotted Mikey, laying on his shell with loose restraints around him. He was still able to move, sit down and lie down, but not enough to get off the bed, just like me.

"Mikey!" I screamed, running over to him.

"Leo?" He asked me, his eyes going wide as he saw me. "What..?"

"The plan, we're getting ourselves out of here" I quickly say, watching as Melanie used her key to release Mikey from his chains. The latter immediately sits up, wrapping his arms around my neck, burying his face into mine, trembling against me.

"Sttt... " I shush him, breaking up our hug and wiping away the lingering tears. "We need to hurry 'kay? First we get out of here" I tell him, giving him a firm squeeze and helping him off the table. His knees buckle when his feet make contact and I immediately throw his arm over my shoulder.

"Sorry" He mumbles tiredly.

"Don't be" I shoot back, tightening my grip on him and leading us out of the building. With my support Mikey is able to jog along and we quickly make our way back to the place where we separated. Sensei is already there and I can feel my eyes widen as I see Raph in his arms, awake but weak and in pain. Mikey tenses next to me but I ignore it.

"Donnie is down that hallway, I think it's best if we go with the two of us, we'll be faster" Melanie tells Master Splinter. "We need to go back to the main door anyways" She adds and Sensei nods, walking over to me.

"Guard your brothers" He tells me while setting Raph down. "I love you all" Raph flashes him a smile, and so does Mikey.

"Be quick" I whisper, before Sensei turns around and runs through the hallway. I sigh before I help Mikey over to Raph, setting him down next to his older brother.

"Ossu otouto" Raph says in a whispered tone and Mikey immediately wraps his arms around his older brother. And Raph lets him, something he would've never done before all of this. In fact, he snuggles closer to Mikey, taking comfort in his little brother's hug. I smile sadly and walk over to them, sitting down next to Raph and wrapping my arms around him as well.

"Gomenasai" I mumble into the hug and Raph snorts at the comment.

"Say you're sorry one more time..." He doesn't finish the threat but I know that he doesn't mean it. "I love you guys.. in case this doesn't work.. I just want you to know that I love you" I laugh through the tears, shaking my head.

"It'll work, trust me, we're getting out of here. Tonight"

TMNT

Both Leo and Mikey had been startled, eyes going wide when they saw us coming through those doors and I'm sure that Raph had the same reaction, but Donnie stayed perfectly still, eyes closed. Asleep. Splinter rushes over to him, shoulders and ears dropping as he sees the state Donnie's in. He looks so depressed, so heartbroken at seeing his sons like that.

"Donatello?" Splinter whispers, gently shaking Donnie's form. Slowly he opens his eyes, glassy eyes looking up.

"D-Dad?" He whispers, his eyes dropping for a second.

"I am here my son, and we're getting you out of here" He says, fully determined to get his sons to safety. Don nods numbly, tears jumping into his eyes. With the help of Splinter we manage to sit him upright but he's too weak to support himself. Splinter turns around, lowering himself a bit and I direct Donnie's arms around Splinter's neck.

"Don't let go okay?" I say to him and he nods again, letting his head fall onto his father's shoulders. Too exhausted. Or just sparing his energy, spending it on the right actions.

"Knew you'd come" Don mumbles softly as Splinter starts walking, clinging to his neck so he wouldn't fall off. Splinter doesn't verbally answers, he only lets his ears drop in sadness once again. And it's painfully obvious what his reason is, not being there for his sons, not getting them out of here fast enough. Letting them be tortured for 2 months.

But now wasn't the time to think about that, first we had to get them out of here.

TMNT

It probably didn't take them long to get Donnie, but it felt like an eternity. I just wanted to get out of here, along with my bros. I wanted to get out of here.. I wanted to go home. I eye at the two humans standing beside us. I knew them from Melanie. She told me that there were two human teenagers helping us alongside Master Splinter.

April and Casey, she told me. But I had never actually met them, and as much as I wanted to thank them right now, I couldn't bring up the interest to tell them right now. I could only worry for my two younger brothers right now, and worry about Donnie. Even if we did manage to get out of this building, we would never be free.

We had all watched enough documentaries to know what PTSD was.

But I couldn't think like that, not now. Not with Raph still being in pain from his surgery, not with Mikey being too weak to support himself fully. And from what Melanie had told me, Donnie being too tired to move anything at all. First the rescue, then I was allowed to worry about the consequences.

"They're coming" April suddenly announces, rushing over to us. My eyes widen for a second and I look at Raph and Mikey, neither of them were able to move on their own, but I could only carry one of them. And Donnie was undoubtedly being carried by Master Splinter, so he wasn't an option either.

"April, Casey can you support Mikey for me? I need to carry Raph" Both humans looked at me with a weird expression. Not like I could blame them, it was the first time we even had a 'conversation'. As far as this was considered a conversation. April nodded, walking over to Mikey. She crouches down agilely and throws one of Mikey's arms around her shoulder.

I turn around and Raph wraps his arms around my neck, before I stand up. It surprised me actually how much effort I have to put into carrying him. Beforehand I had no problem carrying any of my bros. But then again, I hadn't trained in over two months. I was bound to be out of shape, both stamina and muscle strength.

It was a conscious decision to turn around, running after Melanie without checking on Donnie. I didn't want to see in what condition he was. A conscious decision not to see my little brother. Who I'd seen two times a week for the past 2 months, with the exception of this week. When he was too affected by the experiments to be shown. And that stressed me out to no end.

Eventually, not long after our meeting point, we reached the doors again, leading to the outer circle again. Melanie rushed over to the control panel. One because she was the only one who know how to open them, and two because she the only one who wasn't carrying or supporting someone.

"Get ready guys.. there's a possibility that there are guards wai-" She stops midsentence, eyes going wide the moment the door slides open. Several guns were pointed at us, shields to protect them from our attacks.

"Hands in the air or we will shoot!" One of the guards shout, pointing his gun in our direction. He's too far away, not even Splinter would be fast enough to make it towards the guards without being shot.

"Don't shoot!" Melanie yells, stepping in front of all of us with her hands raised in the air.

"Hand them over Mrs. Dane." One of them calls out and Melanie tenses visibly.

"I won't, I promised I'd get them out of here" Melanie says sternly.

"Last chance or we will open fire" The same guards says, getting ready to shoot.

But his actions are stopped when a sudden shock rushes through him, and he crumbles to the ground, his gun falling helplessly next to him. Soon followed by 5 more guards, until only two of them were left standing. A snort comes from one of them and he removes his mask, looking down at the fallen soldiers.

"They were gonna shoot 'em." He says gruffly, eyeing at the other soldier, who had also removed his mask by now.

"Can't belief anyone would work for them like this" The other one agrees with a snort before turning to us. "Let's get you out of here" He simply says, motioning us to come near them.

"Thanks Dylan.." Melanie breathes out, but I'm too exhausted to question her about it, how she knows them. Or what the heck is actually going on right now.

"Don't worry, they ain't dead. And two others are in the closet now. Without clothing I'm afraid" The first one speaks up, gesturing to his own uniform, apparently stolen from two other guards. I frown, not daring to take my eyes off of them as they lead us through the halls again.

"Gotta warn you though, outside is a mess. But we'll lead ya through it" One of the guards, Dylan apparently, tells us. And he was true to his words, the light was blinding, but that wasn't the thing that captured my eyes. It was the crowd of people. Hundreds of people were surrounding us and I shrank back immediately, doing a step backwards.

Too many people… Too close.

"Everyone get back!" I heard Melanie shout before she reaches out for me, wrapping her hand around my upper arm.

My head jerks towards Melanie, staring at her with wide eyes. Her mouth moves but the roaring of the crowd was too loud for me to hear it. And it seemed like Melanie understood, closing her mouth and jerking her thumb away from the building. Some kind of line was created for us to walk through.

People were making room for us to walk away.

My heart was thumping in my chest and I tightened my grip on Raph's hands, who squeezed them in return. It seemed like he was still conscious after all, but I knew the exhaustion and pain he must be feeling right now. Donnie was on Master Splinter's back, and Mikey was being supported by Casey and April.

And slowly we were walking towards the end of the parking lot, where a van was waiting for us. Behind the wheel a ginger-haired man, who seemed to be related to April. Probably her father.

A few news reporters were near the van, consistently asking random questions. We ignored them, and Melanie opened up the van for us. Master Splinter placed Donnie in the van, closely followed by April, Casey and Mikey. Dad quickly walked over to me, taking Raph off my back and signed for me to follow him.

But I stayed put.

"Leonardo?" Master Splinter whispered, looking at me with concern shining in his eyes.

"I speak for me and my brothers when I say we are so grateful for this" I start, biting my lip slightly from hesitation, my blue eyes ignoring the cameras and microphones that were shoved into my face.

"We will never be able to repay you, and no words can express how grateful we are" I continue, looking directly into one of the cameras. "The ones who did this to us were human, and I understand that not all of you are like that, that you have displayed tonight by helping us. But please understand that we want to be left alone for now… maybe forever.. "

Tears were softly streaming down my face and I turn around, walking straight into Dad's arm, and into a tight hug. I stand there numbly, not actually caring that anyone saw me cry right now. Heck, they had seen me and Don cry numerous times on television. And frankly, I had no idea what to feel exactly right now. Happiness, anger, vengeance.

Or the painful irony that the humans saved us. And that despite knowing these humans couldn't be categorized as the same beings, with the same ideals and beliefs, still being afraid of humans just because they were human. Because they were human also.

"We are indeed very grateful. But like Leonardo said, we need time to heal. Thank you" He gives the audience a curt nod and turns around, leading me into the white van. I climb into the back, scanning the van quickly. Donnie was laying on the ground, a pillow supporting his head. Melanie said he'd be exhausted.

Raph was sitting next to Donnie, leaning against the wall and looking at his younger brother with pain written across his face. Both emotional and physical. Mikey is sitting next to Raph but instead of looking at Donnie he's looking towards me.

"Hey dude" He breathes out softly, stretching out his hand for me to take it. I hesitantly take his hand and he immediately pulls me down, wrapping his arms around me.

"Not this time, don't you dare" He whispers in my ear, and I reluctantly give up, burying my face into his shoulder. I knew exactly where he was talking about. The blame of failing my team. Of failing my own brothers. And they shouldn't be worrying about me. I was their leader, I was supposed to look after them. Not the other way around...

"Bu-"

"None of this is your fault, now shut up and let me comfort you"

But was that really so bad?


	10. Chapter 10

All four of the humans knew of our secret lair already. Leonardo had told Melanie a few weeks ago to convince her, so she already knew where the lair was. April, Casey and Mr. O'Neil knew about the lair, knew how it looked like. But they had never seen how to get to the lair. Blindfolded to prevent them from knowing. But right now I owned them too much.

Too much to withhold this from them.

So once we went down into the sewers, through the entrance Donatello had built once, I switched positions. It pained me to leave my sons like that, They were all reluctant to let me go, but we had to go home. So they could heal, and feel safe again after all this time. Over two months. So I gave directions to April's father, which eventually led us to our lair entrance.

I had seen a lot of movies, read a lot of books, throughout my human and mutant years. The situation was similar, secret superheroes, vigilantes coming home injured from either a kidnapping or just a fight. And the few allies hurrying them to the medical bay and patching them up. Hectic, spinning camera's, end of a chapter.

But this was nothing like it.

They were already stitched, they were already treated. There was nothing either of us could do.

And while they tried to be brave in the facility, while they tried to be brave in front of all those humans… they weren't okay. They pretended they were. But they were just teenagers, too young, and too traumatised right now. And it was definitely showing.

"How are they?" April started softly. I sigh softly, my ears dropping at the thought of them.

"Together for now, but not asleep." I keep my head casted downwards, my heart heavily pounding at the memory. Casey and April had dragged numerous matrasses, pillows and blankets towards Leonardo's room and we all moved them to Leonardo's room.

Even though it was quite late already, I don't think either of them will fall asleep any time soon. And something tells me that they won't be trying. They want to be together, while they couldn't be in the last 10 weeks.

"I'm sorry Master Splinter" April whispers eventually and now I do turn around, flashing her an apologising smile.

"None of this is your fault Miss O'Neil. In fact I should thank you for saving my sons, and myself"

"Any time" She smiles, but I can see that the smile isn't genuine, it's clouded by sadness. Sadness over the horror that is known to her. "Just call if you need anything" She whispers after a few seconds of silence and I nod as an conformation. April, Casey and Mr. O'Neil would be spending the night here in our lair.

It was already very late right now, and it was a silent agreement that they stayed because of the .. mental state of my sons. I wouldn't be surprised if something were to happen throughout the night, and they'd need comforting. And while I was perfectly fine with giving them that comfort, I was sad at the prospect of having to.

They were children, teenagers. They didn't deserve to go through this.

But it happened.

TMNT

It had been a few hours when I sensed someone approaching me. My ears perked up and I could just restrain myself from jerking around to see who was approaching me. It would only scare whoever was approaching me off. So I carefully turned around, searching for the person responsible.

Just in front of the stairs was my youngest son.

"Michelangelo" I whispered as a greeting. He seemed slightly startled by my comment and hesitantly took a step backwards, fear shining in his eyes. "My son.." I breathed out in equal shock. Was he afraid of me? My own son.

He could not be.. right?

There was a short silence where our eyes both met, and my youngest kept silent the whole time. I was about to stand up, walk up to him, but he beat me to it. Hesitantly he took a step towards me, and shyly he started to walk towards me. There was a blue blanket wrapped tightly around his body and I sadly noticed the stiff posture.

He was clearly having some difficulty with walking, still weak from everything they did over there. Not as bad as Donatello, but still significantly present.

He carefully stepped into the pit and walked up to me. I had expected him to hesitate but he immediately walked up to me, crawling into my lap, just like he did when they were still little tots. He didn't say anything but just wrapped himself tighter into the blanket and rested his cheek against my chest.

"My son" I breathed out again, but then wrapped my arms around him.

I cringed slightly when the action caused my youngest to whimper pitifully, stiffening in utter fear. "You are safe now my son, do not worry" I whispered in his ear, slightly repositioning him so he was a bit more comfortable, and I was as well.

Still he did not say anything, only taking comfort into the hug. I should have expected something like this to be honest. Melanie had told me about his treatment, him being shielded away from the rest of my sons. But even so, Michelangelo had always been closer than the rest. Or more open I should say. Unlike the other he was not afraid to ask for help or show emotion.

I sigh softly, swallowing a couple of times before opening my mouth. At first he stiffened in my hold, barely restraining himself from whimpering again, but slowly he relaxed a bit when the familiar tune of the lullaby was recognised, the same lullaby I used to sing to them as toddlers, and the same one Melanie had used to contact me.

Yurikago no uta o  
Kanariya ga utau yo  
Nenneko Nenneko  
Nenneko yo

Yurikago no ue ni  
Biwa no mi ga yureru yo  
Nenneko Nenneko  
Nenneko yo

….

TMNT

The next thing I knew was the smell of food filling my nose, the stifled noises filling my eardrums, and the immediate sense of an emptiness around me. I slowly opened my eyes, immediately realising that Michelangelo was no longer at my side. There was a blanket draped across my shoulder, which brought an unconscious smile to spread across my face.

I shifted slightly, feeling the joints pop with some kind of weird satisfaction. The smile that was on my face however immediately vanished when I saw my youngest laying on the ground in the middle of the pit. Raphael and Donatello were lying next to him, Raphael in the middle and the two youngest clinging to their older brother.

And yet I could not get myself to smile at the sight.

Dark circles were under their faces, even more visible now they weren't wearing their masks anymore. The only one missing, but surely in a similar condition, was my oldest son.

"Rest for now my sons" I whispered, my ears dropping as I looked at them. With a heavy heart I turned away from them.

TMNT

For once, I had no idea what to say to break the silence. I had always been the one to say something, anything to cheer someone up. Or to just let them know I was there for them. But right now, I could find nothing to say. And that wasn't because there was a giant turtle sitting in the same room as me, but it was because of the reason I knew them.

The capture, Splinter being injured a little less than three months ago. The hasty escape that led them, and us, towards this lair. I couldn't say anything, couldn't find my voice for some reason. I could only, maybe cowardly, look from the corners of my eye how Leonardo was sitting there. Spaced out, shoulders hunched in sadness and defeat.

Traumatised.

"Good morning Miss O'Neil" Someone suddenly called out and I let out a little yelp, immediately turning around to see who was calling. There was a faint tug at the lips at my reaction and I playfully huffed out of habit.

"Morning Master Splinter" I said, earning a nod in return. "I hope you don't mind but I'm making breakfast." I added. For a second he seemed a bit surprised before a small smile tugged at his lips.

"That is quite alright, thank you for your offer" I smiled in return, if only for a split second. The second master Splinter turned towards his oldest son I remembered why this has all happened, why I was even here.

Master Splinter took a few steps towards his oldest son, concern written on his fact before saying something in Japanese. Immediately I felt something that I hadn't felt in the short time I knew Master Splinter, unwelcome. I felt like I was intruding. He didn't want me to hear it, this, a moment between father and son.

Leo didn't look up and mumbled something back in Japanese. The sentence short, and I had no clue what he was saying. A vague blush spread across his cheeks before he finally turned to his father and hesitantly asked something, still in Japanese. There was only a small hesitation present with master Splinter before he fully walked over to his oldest son.

I felt myself frozen as Leo wrapped his arms around his father, sliding off the chair he was sitting on. Splinter in return fell to his knees, burying his son in his chest.

The sobs that slowly started was the thing that managed to snap me out of the daze. I quickly turned off the fire and slowly made my way outside. My heart clenched at the sight of them, Leo had his face completely buried in Splinter's robe, while the latter held him tightly, rubbing his shell in a comforting matter.

The cup of tea I had given him, at that moment still boiling hot, completely forgotten. He hadn't even sipped it, not even a tiny sip. Only taking comfort in the little warmth of the cup, needing it after being awoken by nightmares, after helping his two younger brothers into the pit after they all freaked out by Mikey's disappearance.

They relied on each other, now more than ever. But they also needed their father for comfort.

As if they'd all planned it, two green eyes were staring at me when I walked out of the kitchen, and towards the pit. I flashed him a soft smile, walking into the pit without making any noise.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked him, keeping my voice down so I wouldn't accidently wake up Mikey and Donnie. And from the looks of it, they really needed their sleep.

"I'm fine" Raph scowled, sporting the same bags under his eyes as his younger brothers, and his older brother. I sigh, wanting to say more but from the few times Splinter talked about his sons, I gathered that that wouldn't be very wise. Raph would most probably deny this, deny his fears. And besides, if he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

Who was I to push him? Who was I to already break the little trust that was between us?

"Okay, just call me when you need something. Casey's here as well but he's still asleep. My dad has to work but will be back tonight with some groceries." Raph didn't answer and just shut his eyes again. I sigh again, I really shouldn't've expected something else. While he clearly knew I helped him, he.. well the ones that did this to his family were human, and I was a human as well.

Besides, he was vulnerable right now, exposed. And victims never liked that. Dad told me, having worked with traumatised children in the past. A bit too convenient for my liking, that I was now in the same situation as my dad's work. But at the other side I was also glad that he knew how to deal with this.

"Definitely don't push them sweetheart. No relative must do that, and especially someone they barely know."

He had told me. So I wouldn't. I wouldn't've wanted that if I were in his position.

So I quietly stood up, leaving the three of them alone, fully knowing that they needed the time alone. I take a short glance at the kitchen, the sobs still vaguely evident but I chose to ignore them. I didn't know him, so it'd be wrong to see that this wasn't like Leo, but Splinter told me about his sons, more than once.

And he wasn't like this.

He didn't openly cry, he didn't show his emotions this excessively. From a young age he had felt protective, being the oldest of his brothers. Raph often denying that, but still Leo was declared the oldest. He couldn't cry, or at least so he thought. His younger brothers needed someone to rely on. And now he was doing the opposite. He needed someone.

Heck, who was I to judge him?!

I didn't know them, I just met them in person. And I was seriously doubting that they wanted me around here.

I closed my eyes for a second, turning away from the kitchen and slowly walking up to the dojo. The dojo had quickly become one of my favourite places during the few times I had been down here. It was so peaceful. I know it was used for training, and the weapons were evident in the room, and yet I felt at peace. More than ever.

Without hesitation I walked over to the tree, sitting down with my back firmly planted against it. I sigh again, pulling out my phone and immediately calling my dad. The phone beeped for a few seconds before the sound of my dad picking up rang through the phone.

"Hey dad, it's me" I called out.

"Oh hey sweetie. Why are you calling? Is something wrong?" I smile sadly, shaking my head despite knowing he wouldn't be able to see it.

"I don't know" I say quietly, biting my lip to prevent the first tears from falling. "They're just so… affected by everything. Why… would they do s-something to them?" My fingers were now digging into my palm, mentally cursing myself for the quiver in my voice.

"Oh sweetie. We've talked about this"

"I know.. I just hate not being able to help." It reminds me of mom. I silently add, but I know my dad knows the silently added sentence.

"I know you do, but just give them time and be yourself." He replies.

"Yea.. I know.." I whisper. "How's news above ground? They aren't.. bothering you right?" There is a short silence following my question before a sigh is heard from the other side of the line. It was one of the reasons why I decided to stay underground for now, one was to help the guys out of course, but the other was that they now knew about mutants, the humans above I mean.

And they would certainly want to ask questions about them. And they knew we rescued them, that I rescued them. And that my dad rescued them. I just hoped that my assumption wasn't right, and they weren't bothering my dad with endless questions.

"Not as much as expected" He eventually replies. "They keep asking me what has happened to them, how I know them. And they want to talk to the guys themselves. An interview or something. Something both parties agree on, clarification on what they are and so on"

Parties, I thought grimly, opposites from each other. One in favour of the mutants, seeing no reason why they were to be treated differently from humans, one against them. But both demanding answers from the guys. How they've been created, how similar they were to humans and so on.

"The guys won't be able to handle that right now. But… I will talk to Master Splinter. You take care up there 'kay?"

"You too kiddo, love you"

I didn't reply, accepting the void of darkness that fell upon the room, biting back the tears and memories back.

It wasn't fair


	11. Chapter 11

"I have not spoken to my sons as much as I would want to. All four of them are equally scarred and traumatised by what has been done. I will be available to answer question if I feel like doing so, and when my sons don't need me. However, I do not wish to hear anyone bother Mr. O'Neil to arrange some meeting"

The words echoed through the room, and I wrapped my arms around my knees tightly, pressing them against my plastron. My face was buried in between my knees, absently taking in the words dad was speaking on national TV. Not at this exact moment, it had been awhile since he had accepted to give into the huge demand.

It was a rerun, because they lacked new information about our whereabouts. Dad refused to give more until we were feeling better.

People wanted to know how we were doing, if we would recover, and how we were doing mentally. But most importantly, they wanted to know about us before everything. They wanted the certainty that we were safe for society, and they were still wildly debating whether we should be allowed to go out into public.

Something I wouldn't consider anytime soon.

"Our family has been hurt in the most cruel way possible; torture. As much as I'd like to sugar coat it, it happened. My sons know, and they have reached out to me saying that not all the humans would have done this. So do not assume that we think of you all as evil. They need time to recover from this, and maybe later they will be ready to answer some questions"

That was a week ago when he said this. A full week had passed and it barely felt like a day. Which was ironic considering how long the last 2 months seemed to be.

"As of now, I will be the only one answering your questions. I myself do not feel fully comfortable amongst humans yet but I will discuss this matter with Mr. O'Neil. That's all"

"And that ladies and gentlemen, had been the first words we have heard of the mutants since their breakout almost a week ago. As you could hear their caretaker has agreed to answer our questions from time to time. Because the question still lingers amongst us all. Are these mutants safe for society? We don't know what or who they are. And like everyone keeps saying. people fear what they don't-"

Before the woman could finish her sentence I had turned off the television in front of me, still not looking at the screen in front of me.

"Leo? You okay?" April's voice resonated through the lair and I slowly looked up to her.

"Would you be?" I retort, my voice light as I ask her. April flashes me an apologising smile and walks over to me, sitting down on the couch next to me.

"It's still weird" I mumble after a short silence. "Having a human in the lair like this"

"Well, I'm not used to being in a sewer with 5 mutants myself" She smiles, and much to my surprise I chuckle.

"I'd be alarmed if you wouldn't be"

Again a comfortable silence surrounds us, and I actually stiffen at the thought. I glance to the side, comfortable? Was I? My eyes roam over to the human sitting next to me. But I was…. I felt comfortable sitting next to her.

"Will you… " April starts, turning her head towards me, and I did the same thing. "Will you tell me about your childhood? I promise I won't tell them but I just.. want to know y'know"

I gape at her for a few seconds, my mind blank for the duration before I soften my expression.

"I don't see why not"

TMNT

"Dad, I'm fi-" Before Raph could even finish the sentence a hiss escapes his mouth and he clamps his mouth shut.

"I am sorry" Dad ushers, eyes dropping at the sound of pain coming from Raph. The latter scowls at the sentence, turning his head away from both of us. Dad dipped the cotton in alcohol again, reluctantly dapping it onto Raph's bleeding arm. Raph lets out a pained hiss again at the touch and I squeeze his hand gently.

"Michelangelo, would you fetch some bandages from the first aid kid?" Dad asked and I nodded, reluctantly letting go of Raph's hand. I reached for the bloody bandages, throwing them in the bin on the way to Raph's drawer, where the first aid kid was located.

"You should not have strained your healing arm like that my son. Your body is not ready yet" Dad says with a pained voice and I eye at the cut stitches lying next to them, along with the clean scissors dad has used to cut the stitches away. At least, they used to be clean before the stitches were cut.

"I'm sick of this shit. I was good after a week the last few times"

Dad winces at the comment, freezing for a second. His ears drop flat against his head and a sad expression takes over the stoic expression he had tried to keep up around us for most of the week.

It were moments like this, mentions of what happened, evidence of .. that place, that made him act this way.

"I know my son, but you must let your body heal" Dad utters softly and slowly nods to me as I hand him the bandages. "At least you did not rip all of your stitches" Dad turns Raph's arm slightly, eyeing at the gaping wound in the middle of his arm. Roughly a third of the stitches were forced to be cut away due to the strain Raph put them under.

The stitches in the outer corners remained intact, and they didn't need to be redone. Which meant that the outer corners would at least heal like predicted.

"M'sorry" Raph mumbles again, letting his father work on his arm.

TMNT

"You didn't have to do this April" I whisper, my eyes going wide over the bag pack, filled with different books and materials. "This is worth a fortune" I pull out a few books, still encased with plastic, brand-new.

April smiles gently, helping me unpack everything.

"I can't accept this" I whisper again, looking at the prices that were still on the back of the products. April's smile falters slightly and she pushes the books in my hands, looking me dead in the eye.

"Don, they're a gift. And if you really want to know, I didn't pay for them." April explains, causing me to frown. She seems to catch up on my confusion.

"They set up some sort of donation for you guys, besides, the lab is forced to pay a huge bill, and give the profit they made from the TV rights to you guys. The management was given to my dad until they figure out if mutants will be allowed among humans but.. I know you don't care that much about money but I saw your stuff Don. You've never bought something new." April explains and this time I smile at her.

"So you didn't steal?" I smirk and April shakes her head with a wild smile.

"Just tell me if you like them"

"They're perfect April, thank you"

My heart skips a beat slightly, as April suddenly leans forwards, ready to wrap her arms around me. I flinch away, scrambling to the other side of the bed and glancing at her with wide eyes.

April gapes at my reaction, hurt flashing over his face and she slowly lowers her arms.

"Sorry" I whisper, my heart beating viciously against my chest. I shouldn't…. I shouldn't be afraid of her. She didn't do anything but.. she was human. "I want to be alone" Tears were slowly building up in my eyes and I rub my palms against my eyelids, my eyes squeezed shut.

I could feel myself trembling and I shuddered, pressing my knees against my plastron. I ignore the hurt expression in April's eyes, the soft 'sorry' and her leaving, I ignored it. I reached for the sheets of my bed, almost tearing them in my grip. Why? Why us, why me? I glance at my arms, littered with random scars.

Patrol and capture blended perfectly with each other, except for the straight lines of some scars. They seemed the same, but if you'd look closely you could see that they weren't from a sword, or a tanto. You'd see that the lines were drawn by a sharp scalpel, if you'd look closely you could see the lines of the restraints, the numbers that were branded into our necks.

If you'd look closely you could see our family picking up the little shards of glass, glass that had been shattered by humans.

You could see how Mikey and Leo were hurt by the shards, and the blame that was fuelling Raph and me right now.

Tears slipped from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks in big rivers.

If you'd just look you could see the change in Leo's behaviour. Withdrawn, quiet and insecure. You could see that Raph has been avoiding April and Casey by any means possible, his hatred for humans reaching a level of absurdity. And Mikey, who refuses to speak unless absolutely necessary, who unconsciously clings to everyone in the lair except the humans.

TMNT

"Master Splinter?" I frown slightly, but I never look up. I know that voice, the light voice of the first woman, or girl, we ever talked to. The door was pushed open a little more, the familiar ginger hair coming into view.

"What is wrong April?" Dad asks, stopping with my stitches for a couple of seconds to look up.

"Don.. he's.." April starts. "I think he's having another attack." Worry and guilt were evident in her eyes, and she shifts from leg to leg.

Dad's ears drop against his head again. "I need to help Raphael first" He says, his eyes troubled. I can feel guilt pooling in my stomach. Don needed him right now, but he couldn't possibly choose between his sons, no father could.

Mikey moved next to me, placing a careful hand on top of Dad's.

"I can" He whispers softly, suddenly looking at me with pleading eyes. "I c-can right?" He adds and my heart squeezes against my chest. I reach out for him, pulling him against my side as tight as I could.

"Always little bro. Never doubt that" I whisper in his ear, trying to assure him as best as I could. Ever since we got back from that place, Mikey hasn't talked much, barely a few words. But he wasn't avoiding us, on the contrary, he was constantly around one of us. At first I was too wrapped up in my own personal shit, still am.

But after a few days I started to notice the silence.

Mikey nods against my before untangling himself hastily and taking the needle and thread from dad. I give him an assuring nod, and that is luckily all he needs to continue. There were only a couple of stitches to be done anyways.

"I love you my sons" Dad speaks up before he hurries out of the room, and I can feel my chest tightening once again. Right now neither of us were unfamiliar with the panic attacks Don… and Mikey had frequently. As much as I wanted to change it, Don and Mikey got the worst during our captivity.

Me and Leo.. were given anaesthetic, we weren't awake during all of it. Of course the trauma was great, and the wounds hurt all the time but… it wasn't the worst.

Ever since Don was up to moving again a couple of days ago he has been cleaning, cleaning to keep himself occupied and sane. Leo and me knew what to expect, when, what, by whom and so on. Mikey knew as well to an extent. Donnie didn't know anything. Not how many days, not by whom, not for how long.

And that affected him, he needed structure, assurance. He wanted to know when what happened. He needed to know.

Mikey was alone for most of it, he only met me 2 or 3 times during two months. And it showed, he couldn't be alone anymore. He was always with us, even if it was quietly sitting in the same room. Which often was mine. He rarely spoke because he knew our opinion of his ramblings.

Annoying, nuisance, and so on. He didn't want to take the risk of being annoying again, he didn't want to speak in fear of being sent away.

Can't believe I'd ever say it, but he was annoying when he wasn't talking, it was annoying. I wanted to hear my little brother ramble endlessly. But I knew better than to hope for the old. Things changed in that lab, and it wouldn't magically be undone. We were damaged, and our secret was out.

I watched as Mikey quietly finished the last stitch, throwing everything away and wrapping a clean bandage around my arm. He slides off the bed with ease, walking over to my drawing to put away the first aid kid.

And then Mikey couches slightly, and I can see his form freezing and tensing at the same time. For a few seconds it's completely silent until he turns to me, flashing me a shaky smile as if he was trying to assure me. Something he really shouldn't have to.

"C'mere" I say, stretching my uninjured arm, or rather the one I hadn't busted just hours ago. "Kitchen, you cook?" I smirk, and a smile stretches across Mikey's face and he nods shyly.

I stand up, minding my injured arm and I force myself to believe I went with him because he needed someone with him. And not because I needed someone as well.


	12. Chapter 12

Had it really been 5 weeks already? Had it really been 35 days since we got rescued? It seemed like such a short time, but it was still 35 days, 840 hours, 50 400 minutes, unlimited seconds filled with painful memories and constant nightmares.

35 days had passed, 35 days leading to this moment.

"You sure you're ready guys?" April asks, putting a hand on my shoulder, and the other hand on Donnie's shoulder. I wince slightly as the hand startles my younger brother, a blush forming as he realises he yet again freaked out by April's touch. Even I could feel my muscles tensing at the sudden contact but I smile.

"I'm ready" I say confidently, looking at my three younger brothers in return. Mikey was still huddled close to Raph and I sigh slightly in a mixture of relief and disappointment. He still couldn't be alone right now, even Raph couldn't handle being alone as well as he used to, but Mikey was the worst.

And it saddened me to see that Mikey was still so dependent on his older brother, and yet I was relieved that he trusted Raph so blindly after everything.

Especially since i had trouble trusting basically everyone right now.

"Me too" Donnie agrees with me, both of us looking over to Mikey and Raph, the latter giving us a confident nod, but the tremble was all too clear. "Are we good to go?" Don asks, directing his gaze towards the female redhead that was standing next to him.

"Almost, the security is checking the studio right now to make sure everything's safe, and the audience have been checked when they came in, nothing that can be thrown, or used as a weapon" At the mention of audience Mikey pales slightly, creeping a bit closer to his older brother.

"Audience?" He whispers and yet again I'm conflicted on what I should feel. Protective since my little brother was obviously scared? Or relieved that I finally heard him speak again.

"It's a talk show Mikey, but they are aware of the possibility of being sent away when they booked the tickets." I try and comfort him, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Besides, we all agreed on doing this, making us familiar with the world above us" Raph butts in, though softer than his normal voice.

Mikey hums in approval. "I know, but I'm still scared" Raph sigh, patting the back of Mikey's shell to comfort him.

"I think we can all agree that we're all scared shitless" He says.

"Guess we're all cowards aren't we?" Mikey says with a small smile on his face, a smile that used to mean that he wasn't pleased, but was now the best we could get out of him. I laugh silently, shaking my head in disapproval. Though i didn't have to heart to ruin the little joke Mikey made, and made Raph and Don laugh.

Ruining it by being the bossy older brother again and saying that we weren't cowards in the slightest. That everything we've been through… yea, I definitely wasn't going to say that.

"The area is secure and the guards are in place" a new voice suddenly appears next to us and we all turn around to see April's dad walk into the room with dad and a guard next to him.

"If there is any form of disturbance or danger we will immediately get you out and hold off the audience. But you must follow our lead if that happens. Understood?" The guard and I nod as the oldest of the four. Meanwhile Kirby and dad had parted from the guards side and had walked over to April, Don, Raph and Mikey.

But the guard wouldn't let me as he walked up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder and kneeling to match my height, which made me scowl inwards slightly. I mean, he was huge! And it wasn't like we were really tall to begin with.

"And with disturbance I mean anything at all. If you or your brothers do not feel comfortable or you want to end this, we will." The guard says. "I have no relative who worked in that lab or a story like that, but on behalf of being human, I apologise sincerely for what has happened. Let me right the wrongs mankind has committed"

"I will, but don't be sorry" I tell him. "We're not children, never were. And this wasn't your fault to begin with. You have nothing to right… but thanks"

"You're most certainly welcome" The guard replies with a genuine smiley, standing up again and adjusting the belt around his waist before walking back towards the door that'd lead us to the room where we'd be sitting in a moment.

And right now I was really questioning and mentally beating myself up, why had I even done this? Why did I ever agree to this? A talk show, a freaking talk show. After 5 whole weeks of avoiding any human contact apart from April, Casey, Melanie and Kirby, I agreed, we agreed, to be on a talk show.

A show that would be broadcasted this evening, for the whole world to see. Where we'd finally be able to explain ourselves, and let the humans give their judgement. And expose all our vulnerabilities.

"Leonardo" Dad quietly calls out and I turn around, body stiff with anxiety. He was on one knee, my three younger brothers huddled around him while April and Kirby stood a few meters from them. Dad extended an arm and I walked over to him, participating in the tight hug.

"I love you all my sons, never forget. I'm proud of you" He whispers in Japanese and reluctantly releases us from the hug. "Are you sure you do not want me to go with you?"

Before I can answer, Don answers with a shake of his head. "They wanted to talk to us" He replies before crushing dad into another hug, bringing a smile on his face.

"We love you too" He mumbles into the hug before the guard from earlier steps in.

"It's time"

TMNT

Walking up that stage was by far the most overwhelming thing that I had ever done. And I wasn't afraid to admit that. Because I was sure as hell that I wasn't the only one intimidated by the sheer amount of people staring at us, gasping when we came into view.

As promised, guards were everywhere, mostly hidden from view but others directly in front of the doors or audience.

The host immediately stood up when the door opened, and I as the oldest walked out of it as first. He seemed to hesitate for a moment with what to do right now but I quickly, although terrified out of my shell, walked up to him and gave him a hand, shocking the host in more ways than one.

His hand fit strange around mine, and it was clear he was confused by the three fingers, and the thickness of them. But also that I knew, or even engaged, such a custom. I gave him a stern look, and turned away from him to give my brothers a change as well, and out of all of them, Donnie was the most reluctant to give the man a hand.

I sigh in sadness, I had hoped Don would at least see, and judge humans fairly. But it seemed that a great deal of damage had already been done in that lab. I just hoped, mostly for the sake of my little brother, that the host could convince him humans weren't the bad guys here.

Heck, I needed convincing as well.

"Welcome, welcome" The host announced, shushing the roaring audience with his hands. I swallowed thickly, ignoring the crowd as I said down on the right side of the host himself, me directly next to the host, followed by Don, Mikey and Raph in respective order.

"Thanks for having us" I replied but the words rolled off my tongue in a weird fashion. I wasn't thankful, that emotion didn't mix with the anxiety I felt right now, not at this moment at least.

"To be completely honest with you, even despite all the news I have watched, I'm a little overwhelmed to meet you in person" The host starts, waiting for a reaction from the audience, which mostly happened, but was instead met with dead-silence.

"How about you introduce yourself first? And then maybe tell something about how you grew up? From what I've heard from Mr. O'Neil, you want to tell your side of the story before the government decide if you will be 'accepted' into society so to speak" The host tells and I nod my head.

Ever since we were broadcasted, they've been talking about it, but then it was just a 'what if' debate. Right when we escaped, that changed, and people started talking about whether to allow us into society safely, along with other mutants that were surely out there, or forbid us from doing so, and hunting us down in return.

"I am Hamato Leonardo, oldest of the four." I tell, not really sure what to tell about myself besides that, so I turned my head, gesturing for the rest to continue.

"I'm Hamato Donatello, I'm the second youngest" He tells before nudging Mikey.

"I'm Hamato Michelangelo, youngest" He says, his voice surprisingly confident, which in a twisted sense of logic made sense.

"I'm Hamato Raphael, second oldest" Raph told the audience and I gave them a smile, thankfully earning three in return.

"And Hamato is your surname I presume? Why turn it around?"

"Well, our dad is Japanese. He came to New York 17 years ago, but he was still from Japan, and over there they switch the surname and your name. Hence Hamato first"

"Interesting, can you tell me something about your dad? I mean, we've all seen him on the television I presume, but.. we're curious" The host says, leaning a bit closer and on instinct I shuffle a bit to create distance. The host seems to catch on and he leans backwards again with a guilty look on his face.

I took a deep breath, looking in the direction of the room, behind which dad would be watching us in case anything went wrong. Another breath, mentally preparing myself a bit. Dad told us we were allowed to tell everything, including his name and heritage. Risking that the family he had left in Japan would be catching on.

"His name is Hamato Yoshi, he grew up with his adopted brother Oroku Saki. At one point they both fell in love with the same woman, Tang Shen. It ended in a big rivalry but Shen eventually married Yoshi and together they had a daughter named Miwa." I told the audience, stopping for a second as Don places a hand on my shoulder.

I look over at him, earning an encouraging smile and I smile back, quickly turning back to the host again.

"Saki eventually found out he was adopted and from a rival clan, filled with jealousy and betrayal he attacked Yoshi in an attempt to kill him. He burned his house down, killed Shen in the process and took Miwa from him. Letting Yoshi think she had died in the fire as well."

Silence, that was the response I was met with. Dead silence, as everyone listened to the story.

"Dad was heartbroken and left Japan behind, wanting a new start in New York. To help him grieve, he bought us as four infant turtles. But on his way back to his home, he saw a strange man, which he followed. The man turned out to be a droid, a Kraang, and he was carrying around the very thing that turned us into mutants, mutagen"

"He was eventually discovered when a rat gave him away, and he was attacked. In the fight the mutagen had broken from its canister, and had dozed us all. Fusing our DNA with the last thing we touched, a rat for our father, and humans for us. When dad realised what he had become, he took us somewhere safe, a place I can't reveal for our safety"

I waited a few seconds, the crowd erupting in soft whispering at the story. But the host stayed completely silent, and my younger brothers didn't interrupt me either.

"So he took us in, and raised us. He knew, having been human himself once, that we wouldn't be accepted so he made us aware of that when we grew up. And made sure we'd be able to defend ourselves if necessary"

This time I stop for a second, taking a deep breath and wincing at the painful memory. 3 months ago, when we were stopped in that alley and they screamed at us, screamed to surrender, and commented on our weapons, and how dangerous we were.

"That's why we carry around our weapons, not to attack citizens, but to protect ourselves, and eventually once we started going to the surface, you"

And the crowd listened to us, never interrupting us the whole night.

I never called the guards, but I never felt safe with the humans watching us.

And I feared none of us would ever be.


	13. Chapter 13

"You sure we should be up here? What if someone sees us"

Leo turns around, facing his second youngest brother.

"They won't. They aren't looking for us Don, and so far we've avoided humans" Leo tries to convince him and Don looks at him with a sceptical look. The blue cladded leader sighs in defeat, turning his head away. "I'm sorry guys.. I just needed to get out for a while. We can go back if you want"

He eventually adds, looking over the rooftops to nothing in particular. Don shakes his head at the mention of going back.

"We'll stay Leo, I'm just.. anxious" Donnie reluctantly admits, walking over the where Leo was sitting. His legs dangling over the edge of the rooftop and a content yet guilty look on his face. His bandages were now fully removed, and so were Raph's, displaying the full extent of the injuries sustained.

Big surgical lines ran up and down his arms and legs. Even his ankles and wrists showed some discolouring.

Leo glanced up to his younger brother as he sat down next to him, leaning against each other. Leo closed his eyes for a moment, wrapping his arm around his younger brother and bringing him close to himself. Donnie was a different story, his scars weren't even, there were random scars all over his body.

Cuts, surgical scars, burn wounds and the list went on. even his plastron and shell had been damaged. Nothing too great but it was still damaged. Mikey had the least scars out of them, but his were mostly emotionally. He had some small surgical incision on his body, injection marks that were slowly starting to fade and a big groove in his plastron from where they had cut it once.

And apart from the scars his skin was discolouring in some places from all the medicines they had pumped into his body. Most were able to cover up with their usual protective gear. The only one that wasn't hidden was the one on his left upper arm, where a bit of yellowish green was displayed.

Slowly Leo turned his head, facing Raph and Mikey.

The latter was laying down on the elevated part that surrounded the water tower, one hand dangling off. His baby blue eyes gazing at the clear sky above him. Raph was sitting next to him, his shell against the water tower and head resting against it, switching between watching the stars and his youngest brother.

"If you want you can go home; I won't make you stay" Leo says and Raph shakes his head with an amused smirk on his face.

"Well we sure as hell ain't leavin' ya fearless" He smirks. "Besides, it's nice up here. It's been too freakin' long since we've done this" He adds, and Mikey hums in approval.

"Do you know if they've decided anything?" Don suddenly mumbles besides Leo but the latter doesn't visibly react.

"They're still debating, but to be honest" He started, taking a deep breath while looking over the city. "I don't really care. I won't go down there; we've been doing fine these last 16 years"

"Almost 17 though" Donnie adds and Leo hums. "What do you think will happen?"

Leo sighs again, looking down at his little brother with a sad smile. "I don't know, it could go either way" He admits in all honesty. Something they'd been doing a whole lot lately, there were little to no secrets between them anymore. Even dreams and nightmares were more openly discussed than before.

The only exception was the debate that was currently going on in America, and even in the rest of the world to some extent. Since they had been broken out of the facility the humans have been divided. one saying that mutants are dangerous, and the other half saying they deserved to be treated equally, because they were sentient beings as well.

And they were still debating; even after all these weeks.

"You?" Leo eventually asks, causing Don to look up at his oldest brother.

"I don't think they will" Don eventually speaks up, actually surprising Leo. "They're afraid of us; people fear what they cannot understand. They don't want us walking down the streets as if we were just like them"

"Don" Leo breathes out, turning Don's shoulders so he was fully facing the blue cladded leader. "Don't ever think like that. Some may think like that but only because they're shallow like that. A lot of people out there can see we can talk, laugh, cry…. suffer" He stops for a moment, gnawing at his lip slightly.

"But we are not less than them okay?"

Donnie looks at Leo with wide eyes before nodding. "Okay" He eventually agrees, accepting the hug.

"Idiots" Raph muttered to Mikey, who giggled slightly at the comment. Raph in turn beamed at the reaction, it had been a while since Mikey had laughed like that. And it was good to hear his youngest brother laugh again, he used to smile constantly, more things that were taken away from them in that lab…

Slowly the wind started to pick up a bit and the youngest shuddered violently at the sudden drop of temperature.

"You okay?"

Mikey only hummed in approval but Raph didn't buy it. "Yer cold" He stated with narrowed eyes and Mikey shyly casted his eyes downwards, unable to look his older brother in the eyes. Raph sighed, standing up immediately and holding out a hand for his younger brother. After a few seconds Mikey reached out his hand; accepting Raph's.

As if planned; the moment Mikey was fully on his feet the first drops were falling down, landing on the rooftop they were standing on.

"Leo, you comin' too?" Raph called out, but the two brothers were already standing up as well, giving them a curt nod as a 'yes'. Raph huffed, hitting Mikey in the shoulder before taking off. Mikey gaped at his older brother before sprinting after him.

Then without announcing himself, but Raph anticipating him nevertheless, he jumped on Raph's shell, clamping his legs and arm to support himself. Raph grunted slightly, staggering before finding his balance again. He had been working out as much as he could lately, everything had healed and it kept his mind off.. other things.

So he had no problem holding his little brother up.

On the other side; Mikey didn't weigh very much to begin with.

Neither of them had really been sparring lately; and Mikey had never liked building up muscle like Raph and Leo did. And running was definitely out of the picture; something he often did before the capture.

"Yer annoying" Raph huffed playfully, initially unaware of the laugh that slipped off Mikey's face at the mention. His grip loosened slightly and that's when Raph realised what he had said. He stopped walking for a bit, reaching one hand towards his neck, where Mikey's hands were resting.

"It was a joke bonehead." He simply stated, squeezing Mikey's hand firmly and but Mikey still slid off his shell, walking besides him.

"I know" He said in a small, vulnerable voice and Raph's face fell completely at the shattered look on his face. Instead of replying, knowing it wouldn't help much, he wrapped an arm around his baby brother before walking to the side of the building. They were close to a manhole cover so it didn't take them long for them to get underground.

But by the time they were, they were already soaked. Fortunately it didn't take long for them to get home.

TMNT

"Was your trip successful my son?" Splinter questioned as Leo walked into the kitchen after taking a shower, still missing his full gear and mask. Of course Splinter had seen them years after years without any of their gear, and after they started wearing it but it was still a strange sight for him to see.

Leo shrugged, sitting down and accepting a cup of tea his dad had just poured.

"It was nice" Leo eventually opted, which Splinter took as a yes.

"Are you not cold my son?" Splinter eventually broke the silence and Leo looked up with a slightly surprised look.

"Didn't feel like putting on my gear, not like it'd do much against the cold" He muttered and looked down at himself before looking up with a slight smile. "And it's not like we hide much with our gear" He added with a light undertone and Splinter snickered at the joke.

"That does remind me" He starts, gesturing Leo to follow him out of the kitchen again and into the dojo. "Not all humans would agree" he finishes his thought as he points at the two boxes that were stacked in the dojo. Or at least two among more. Gifts from the humans, examined before being taken down of course.

They had to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous in them, attempts to injure or kill the 'mutants'. People who still thought that they were dangerous to society.

Leo frowned slightly, opening one of the boxes before an amused smile appeared on his face.

"Clothes" He stated, holding up a piece of clothing. "Are they serious?"

"I would say it is rather endearing" Splinter snickering, walking over to the box as well. "I am aware that you and your brother do not like human clothing but it is rather comfortable at times like these" Splinter says, gesturing to his oldest son. Leo snickered knowingly.

"They are especially helpful for in the winter. You may not be cold blooded, but you are not fully warm blooded either. And temperature has always infected you four more than me or the humans above."

"To be fair, that is also because we live in a sewer" Leo points out and Splinter laughs again, nodding at his son's statement.

"All true, but the conditions have been improved by Donatello over the years"

"Luckily" Leo agrees, grimly remembering the cold winters without heather. "What's in the rest of the boxes, anything useful?"

"See for yourself. Only you can be the judge of that" Splinter says, gesturing to the remaining boxes. "I will see how your brothers are doing" Leo gave a curt nod at the statement and grabbed more clothing from the box, listening to his father leaving the dojo with an amused smile on his face.

TMNT

"Look, new gloves" Raph grinned, holding up one of his hands for Leo to see. Which was now engulfed by thick cotton with stars on them.

"Raph I don't think…"

"No but seriously, what were they thinkin'?" Raph continues with a snicker, grabbing the other 'glove' and attempting to put it on his foot. "No way in hell socks are gunna fit our feet"

"If you think that's bad you should see the sweaters" Don interrupts, standing in front of the tree in the dojo with his arms spread apart, sweater stuck around his neck and the beginning of his shell. "Size S" He mocks and Leo barks out a laugh, walking over to his little brother.

"How do humans do this?" Leo grimaces with a laugh, helping Donnie out of the sweater.

"First of all, they don't have a shell" Donnie says and Raph comically gasps at the statement, causing Don to stick out his tongue. "And it's probably faster than putting on all our gear" He continues thoughtfully, looking down at his body.

Raph snickers, pulling out another piece of clothing from the box.

"Brainiac has got a point" Raph says, taking out another piece of clothing and throwing it, once again, at the pile that would be unusable.

"Hey guys" April suddenly interrupts their playful banter, causing the three brothers to look up with surprised looks. "Sorry to interrupt but.. they made their decision." Instantly it was clear who April was referring to, the humans above. And immediately the good mood vanished from the room.

"And?" Don questions, genuinely interested in the outcome of the debate.

"They will allow mutants into society but on one condition." April starts, surprising the three mutant brothers. "You'll need to registered, and able to show a special ID whenever someone asks"

There was a silence, the three brothers looking at each other with blank expressions. Neither really knew what to say. How could they possibly react to hearing that they've been accepted into society? That in maybe a few weeks they could walk among humans, without having to hide or anything.

To walk among the kind that tortured them.

The irony was quite big at the moment but it wasn't the first thing that was going through their heads right now, just the confliction between the fact that they've practically been accepted as one of the humans, versus able to walk among the people who hurt them. No irony, just contrasting ideas. And feelings.

"Splinter and Mikey are in the living room right now with my dad. They are trying to determine when you'll receive your ID's." April eventually utters as an invitation, but also to break the awkward silence that was surrounding them.

"It's probably better if we immediately get it over with" Leo eventually says, being the first one to stand up and walk towards April. The latter frowns slightly at Leo's tone but Don and Raph didn't seem surprised so she didn't say anything about it and followed Leo into the living room.

TMNT

I didn't even know what to feel right now really, anxious, scared, happy… I didn't know. Someone was speaking, talking about us but I paid no attention to it. I carefully looked around me. We were in some kind of room, but unlike that talk show from a week back, there wasn't an audience.

Still, there were a few guards visible. Who would be ready to protect us when necessary. But even if there wasn't an audience, there was a camera crew, filming everything that was being said and shown, and broadcasting it live to every television who wanted to see it.

Casey, April and her father were standing on the side, watching with small smiles on their faces. Looking at us with some sort of pride.

I swallow thickly, looking to my right. Don was standing next to me, with Leo next to him. Raph was on my left. He seemed to notice the shuddering breath I took and he looked at me. We locked eyes for a moment and he gave me a nod before wrapping his arm around me, bringing me close to him.

"This is worse than Sensei's lectures" I whisper in Japanese, causing Raph to smirk, and even Don starts to laugh silently.

"And now it is time to finally, officially, welcome these mutants as part of our society" The one who was talking announced, turning to us. There was no bite at the word 'mutant' and I relaxed slightly, still cautious. I don't think I would ever get used to meeting more humans. I already had trouble really connecting with April and Casey, and Mr. O'Neil.

"Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael" The speakers says, walking up to us but still making sure the camera was able to see all of us. "You have proven, though horrible suffering, that you are no less than a human. And for that we can never repay you." I feel Raph stiffen next to me and I reach for his hand, gently squeezing it.

I knew he didn't like to hear about that place, neither of us did but it seemed like Raph always had the most violent reaction to that place.

"It is an honour to give you the first mutant ID's, may more follow" He speaks again before he gives something, a card, to Leo, then Don and then me before giving one to Raph as well. Confirming that we were now officially part of society.

TMNT

"Leonardo, please join us" Dad calls out, all of us looking at the exit of the dojo. A minute or so passed before a confused Leo walked into the room, looking at Don, Raph and me, all perfectly lined up on the opposite side of dad, who was sitting in front of the tree.

"What's wrong?" He asks, automatically walking over to the line we had created, and sitting down next to me. Dad doesn't answer but only picks up the trashcan that was sitting beside him, and picking up card that was in it, before putting the trashcan back. The card we had been given a few days ago, our ID's, proof that we were considered equal to humans.

Coming from Leo's trashcan.

"Could you explain this please?" Dad asks calmly and Leo pales at the sight of the familiar card, bowing his head in shame.

"I will never use it dad, I won't" He mutters and my face falters as well, a sad expression on my face. I hesitantly reach out for my oldest brother, but decide against it. Leo seems to catch the movement and gives me a long look before turning back to our father again.

"I will never use it, humans did this to us" He says, slightly louder than his previous mutter, and showing his scarred arms. "I refuse to walk among them, forgive them for everything they've done. Forgive them for their shallowness."

"You're scared" I cringe at the statement, surprised that it was coming out of my mouth. Leo looks just as stunned, glancing sideways. "I get it" I whisper, so only Leo would hear it.

Slowly dad stands up, walking over to Leo and he kneels again, wrapping his arms around my oldest brother, pulling him close. "I understand my son" He whispers and I feel Raph's hand seeking out for me, squeezing it tightly. Eventually dad releases Leo, creating some distance between them.

"Leonardo" He starts, looking him straight in the eyes. "I understand that you are afraid, I understand that you may think like this at this moment, and maybe these feelings will not go away. But it will be a shame to throw away such an opportunity"

"I can't walk among them dad" Leo says, voice filled with desperation.

"And you won't have to, but you can't just throw it away" Don says, causing everyone to look at him. The purple banded turtle lowers his gaze for a second at the sudden attention. "I won't use it either, not right now. I can't stand to be around humans, but I didn't throw it away"

"Just admit yer afraid fearless" Raph butts in, his voice surprisingly soft.

Leo sighs in defeat, hanging his head and rubbing at his eyes. My face falls again, and I reach for his hand, squeezing it as tightly as Raph had squeezed mine. He looks at me, tears pooling up in his eyes again.

"When did you grow up?" He mutters, but I know he doesn't really expect me to answer. because everybody already knows the answer, the lab. Leo had seen it the moment we had been rescued, when I hugged him in that van that night, when he had been overwhelmed by all the humans around him.

I shake my head, reaching out for my dad to grab the card and push it into Leo's hand.

"I c-can't" He says, his voice stuttering.

"Not now" I whisper. Later.

"We talked 'bout it fearless but we.. " Raph stops, quickly wiping away the tears that were threatening to spill. "We ain't ready yet either"

I watch as Dad frowns in slight confusion, watching this unfold for himself. "What do you propose?" Leo whispers, tears now spilling down his cheeks but nobody says anything about it.

"Dad keeps them" Don says, and I nod numbly. "That way we don't have to keep them in our rooms, and we can decide for ourselves when we're ready to go.. out"

"Until then, we can just go patrollin' and stuff" Raph adds.

"Like we used to do" Before our capture. I add silently and Leo turns his head towards our father again, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Would you be willing to keep them?" Leo asks with a vulnerable voice. .

"Of course I would my son" Dad agrees, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder and glancing at each of us. "Until the four of you are ready to walk among men."

TMNT

Dad was gone, helping April take down the groceries for the remaining of the week. I stood in front of dad's door, card in my hand. Carefully I feel a hand around mine, and I look sideways to see Mikey giving me a curt nod.

"We talked about this" Don says with a gentle voice as he walks up to the other side of me.

"I know" I whisper, walking into dad's room and placing the blue card on top of the three others, staring at the other blue card that was next to them. Dad's official ID. I smile slightly, walking backwards until I was out of the room. Raph looks at me with a concerned expression as he closes the doors to dad's room.

Silently he walks up to me, surprising me as he pulls me into a tight hug, and it isn't long before I feel four more arms wrap around me. I smile through the tears and watch at the now closed door, which separated us from our ID's, that would allow us to walk among humans, freely without fearing arrest.

And yet I highly doubted that we'd ever use them at all, the trust between us and humans has been shattered forever.

But, and I smiled into the hug before sinking to the ground along with the others, we had everything we needed down here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, maybe you can guess, but the story is, sadly, over. I've worked on this one for quite some time even if it isn't even that long :( But still, this is the end of the story. Thank you for everyone who has reviewed and all those kind of things! And thanks for being so patient *shuffles away in shame*
> 
> Either way, thank you guys so much!


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